Friday, 12 July 2013 10:48 AM Message starred aid money to the Philippines from Australia Hide Details From maurice fox To MAURICE FOX This message contains blocked images. Show Images Options ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: maurice fox To: MAURICE FOX Sent: Friday, 12 July 2013 12:40 PM Subject: aid money to the Philippines from Australia Philippines gets P5-B in aid money from Australia March 14, 2012 5:43pm 43 1 3 72 The Philippines will get a P5-billion grant from Australia to fund development projects, after the two countries signed a six-year bilateral aid agreement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Wednesday. In a statement, NEDA said the Philippines signed a “Statement of Commitment for the Australia-Philippines Development Cooperation Strategy 2012-2017” at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) headquarters in Canberra, Australia. “In the current financial year, Australia will provide over P5 billion in development assistance to the Philippines,” NEDA said, claiming that the grant was part-and-parcel of the six-year agreement. NEDA deputy director-general Rolando Tungpalan signed the agreement on behalf of the Philippines, while AusAID deputy director-general James Batley represented Australia in forging the agreement. Money from Canberra’s development assistance will go to education, climate change mitigation and infrastructure projects. The partnership between Australia and the Philippines focuses on “select key issues” that the will make an impact to lives of the poor, said Batley. “We will work together with Philippine partners to address critical gaps in social services for the poorest Filipinos, particularly education, and to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters and conflict,” he said. Australia supports the Philippines’ education reform program — K+12, according to the AusAID official, saying Australia has helped over two million Filipino children through education. “Under the new strategy, we will build on these successes to help the Philippines continue improving learning outcomes,” Batley noted. “Australian assistance will seek to improve the transparency and accountability of local governments, with emphasis on providing more efficient and effective basic services, particularly road infrastructure,” said Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Bill Tweddell. The Philippine official noted the agreement emphasizes government’s reform agenda “premised on good governance.” “Agreeing to a Statement of Commitment entails bigger challenges for both Australia and the Philippines, but this new approach underscores a real commitment to greater alignment, closer collaboration, and shared accountability by both governments,” Tungpalan said. NEDA said the Statement of Commitment is in line with the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016. Australia is now the Philippines’ largest bilateral aid donor, it added. “The Statement of Commitment’s strategic objectives of strengthening basic services for the poor and reducing vulnerabilities arising from climate change and conflict are supportive of the vision and consistent with the objectives, development priorities and outcomes of the Plan,” Tungpalan noted. — with Rouchelle Dinglasan/VS, GMA News
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 06:09:45 +0000
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