The Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc. (FSSI) has joined Zero Extreme Poverty Philippines 2030 (ZEP2030) as one of its lead convenors.
ZEP2030 is a civil society-led movement that aims to help uplift one million Filipino families from extreme poverty to self-sufficiency by 2030. Launched in 2015, it envisions Filipino families enjoying the fullness of life in sustainable communities.
In 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority estimated poverty incidence among Filipino families at 16.5% or 3.4 million families. The subsistence incidence or the proportion of Filipino families in extreme poverty is estimated at 5.7% or 1.3 million families.
To achieve its overall goal, ZEP2030 incorporated the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into seven themes on health, education, livelihood, environment, agriculture and fisheries, housing and shelter, and partnerships for indigenous peoples.
Thematic clusters have been formed, with each of the member organizations bringing into the coalition expertise, information, resources, and a committed response to the call of action to end extreme poverty by 2030 in the Philippines through sharing, synergy and solidarity.
This year the coalition also focused efforts in intensifying local convergences, recognizing the importance of working together locally and collaborating with local government units and community members.
FSSI Executive Director Sixto Donato C. Macasaet says joining the coalition was a natural course for FSSI, “ZEP2030’s vision aligns with what we have been trying to achieve in FSSI. We believe that addressing extreme poverty among Filipinos is a tall order one person or organization cannot do alone; this can be achieved through collective impact of organizations working together.”
Lead convenors collectively provide oversight, including monitoring national targets and actively pursuing timelines, identifying needs and gaps, anticipating and overseeing issues critical to reaching the targets, and arbitrating between clusters and local convergences and looking for solutions to overcome issues prohibiting the movement from reaching the targets.
There are currently 19 lead convenors, including five FSSI members (Association of Foundations, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas, National Secretariat for Social Action, and Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies), the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, Peace and Equity Foundation, and UNDP, among others.
