VP Jocson facilitates Mindanao Development Forum session on health & education
Dr. Jocson facilitates the breakout session on Sub-group 5: People’s Well-being: Health and Education at the 2nd Mindanao Development Forum.
Philippine Normal University (PNU) Vice President for Academics and RCTQ Director Dr. Jennie Jocson took part in multistakeholder conversations on the development in Mindanao as a session facilitator during the second Mindanao Development Forum on 18 May 2023 in Davao City.
Upon the invitation by Secretary Maria Belen Acosta, chair of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Dr. Jocson facilitated the session on People’s Wellbeing: Health and Education, one of the seven breakout sessions at the second half of the day-long forum at Davao City’s Acacia Hotel.
Dr. Jocson with the presenters and discussants on Sub-group 5: People’s Well-being: Health and Education at the 2nd Mindanao Development Forum.
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Dr. Abdullah Dumama, Jr. and Department of Education (DepEd) Planning Service Director Mr. Roger Masapol presented the situationers, challenges and proposed strategies for health and education sectors, respectively.
Responding to the presentations of Dr. Dumama and Mr. Masapol were Dr. Ramjie Odin, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Extension, Mindanao State University (MSU) – Maguindanao, and Dr. Leopoldo Vega, Special Adviser of the Polish Foreign Trade and Investment.
The other forum sessions were on i) Food, Water, and Energy Nexus; ii) Digital Transformation and Innovation; iii) Connectivity (Infra, Transportation, and Logistics): iv) Ecological Integrity and Preparedness and Resilience: Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Resilience; v) Trade and Industry Development Towards Jobs Creation and International Partnerships and BIMP-EAGA; and vi) Peace, Security, Governance, and Institutions.
In her speech, Secretary Acosta described the event as a venue for “simultaneous conversations and aligning our shared agenda for Mindanao.”
“I am excited about the outcome of this gathering and listen to everyone’s insights on how we can further strengthen our partnerships. We cannot do this alone. We have to do it as a team,” Sec. Acosta said.
Organized by MinDA, the second Mindanao Development Forum aimed to engage development partners, national government agencies, local government units, academe, and civil society in conversations on Mindanao development priorities under the current administration. MinDA is a government agency created in 2010 to promote, coordinate and facilitate the active and extensive participation of all sectors to effect socioeconomic development of Mindanao.
Represented at the forum were bilateral and multilateral development agencies operating in Mindanao, including the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). As RCTQ Director, Dr. Jocson currently leads the implementation of two teacher development projects in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) which are supported by the Australian government through the Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao (Pathways) program and in partnership with the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE).
National government agencies represented at the forum were the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Information & Communications Technology (DICT), National Innovation Council (NIC), Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR), DOH, Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). (RCTQ Comms)
https://www.rctq.ph/?p=4272NewsMBHTE,Pathways program
