Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, is visiting the Philippines May 17-19 to meet with stakeholders to mobilize support for the country to achieve its targets for Millennium Development Goal 5 with three years left to the 2015 deadline.

Dr. Osotimehin will be meeting with President Aquino to convey the continued support of UNFPA in the administration’s goal to improve the lives of the Filipino people through a population management strategy that includes responsible parenthood and informed choices.

The UNFPA head will also meet with ambassadors from UN donor countries and international development agencies to secure their commitment for the attainment of MDG 5, which is least likely to be achieved by the Philippines by 2015. He will likewise hold consultative talks with key members of the Cabinet, civil society organizations, youth leaders and legislators, and visit the survivors of Sendong who remain in tent cities in Cagayan de Oro.

The discussions are expected to touch on the upcoming Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development on June 20-22 in Brazil, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Beyond 2014 review, and the post-2015 MDG scenario.

Dr. Osotimehin’s visit takes place as the UNFPA marks its 40 years of country programming in the Philippines, supporting the government in its efforts to enable Filipinos exercise their right to reproductive health. UNFPA has been in the Philippines since 1969 when the agency was created with a Filipino, Rafael M. Salas, heading the agency as its first Executive Director. The first UNFPA Country Programme of Assistance to the Philippines started in 1972.

From 1972 to 2011, UNFPA has invested some P6.2 billion to support government’s poverty reduction programmes that include family planning, safe motherhood, gender equality, and population and development. For the current 7th Country Programme which started this year and ending in 2016, around P1.2 billion has been raised, with possibility of more funds to be mobilized.

In July this year, the Department of Health has been invited to participate in the Family Planning Summit organized by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the support of UNFPA, in London.

The gathering aims to generate unprecedented political commitment and resources from developing countries, donors, private sector, civil society and other partners to meet the family planning needs of women in the world’s poor and developing countries by 2020. The Philippines is strongly encouraged to leverage on this international meeting to gain support for its family planning programmes.

Dr. Osotimehin’s visit to the Philippines is part of his Asian tour which will also bring him to South Korea, Thailand and China.