![FPOP [Family Planning Organization of the Philippines] — “Quality of life is our vision”](../../../site/img/spacer.gif "FPOP [Family Planning Organization of the Philippines] - “Quality of life is our vision”")
On March 2010, FPOP, in collaboration with the Office of Representative Darlene Antonio Custodio, Mindanao PHE Network, and the City of General Santos will co-host the 4th Population, Health and Environment Conference that will be held in General Santos City. The forthcoming conference has the theme, Mainstreaming Population, Health and Environment in Governance. It seeks to:
The first PHE conference was held in 2004, after a group of non-government workers concluded training on harmonizing the Population, Health and Environment (PHE) approach with their respective work or advocacies. The group found PHE as a concept and an approach to sustainable development helpful in understanding clearly the situation experienced by most communities in the Philippines. They also found the approach essential in analyzing the effect of population activities to the environment and health of both the people and their surrounding.
What followed after the training was a series of meetings that led to the formation of a working group that became the forerunner of the current PHE network in the Philippines. The network initiated the holding of national conferences every other year. The first conference was held in 2004 in Antipolo City. It was followed by the 2006 conference in Cebu City and 2008 conference in Tagaytay City. All three conferences were attended by several hundreds of participants. The 2006 and 2008 conferences attracted numerous foreign experts and advocates of PHE, and Filipino delegates representing government agencies, business groups, NGOs, people’s organizations, youth organizations, reproductive health networks, and private individuals.
Past PHE conferences served as venue for sharing and exploration of PHE innovations for possible replication and expansion. They also provided the different population, health and environment players and stakeholders the opportunity to collaborate for possible integration of PHE methods and models in their respective areas or localities.
Through the past conferences, the participants gained a broader understanding of the issues that facilitate or hinder successful PHE integration, scaling up and mainstreaming. Another lesson learned from past conferences is expressed by the words of De Souza (2008) in his review of PHE experiences, that what is needed is “model driven, programmatic and policy (-supported) activities that include a detailed prospective evaluation to support the development of program and policy change benchmarks.”
The forthcoming conference is a three-day activity that expects 200 to 400 participants, 25 to 40 percent of them are foreign delegates. It will have plenary and break out sessions, as in the past three conferences. It will, however, include new features such as pre- and post conference activities and field sessions. Field-based activities seek to initiate greater appreciation of PHE methods from among the participants.
The 2010 conference is supported by the National PHE Network, headed by its current convener, the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). Members of the PHE Network include prominent NGOs and people’s organizations active in population, health and environment advocacies.
