Unicef exec talks about water, sanitation in PH
Carlos Vasquez, Unicef Philippines' chief of Climate, Environment, and Resilience, is interviewed by The Manila Times' Chairman and CEO, Dante 'Klink' Ang 2nd, during a roundtable on water and sanitation at the TMT Newsroom in Intramuros, Manila on Aug. 15, 2024.
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Carlos Vasquez, Unicef Philippines' chief of Climate, Environment, and Resilience, is interviewed by The Manila Times' Chairman and CEO, Dante 'Klink' Ang 2nd, during a roundtable on water and sanitation at the TMT Newsroom in Intramuros, Manila on Aug. 15, 2024.
Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe
Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net
Follow us:
Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook
Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram
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Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital
Check out our Podcasts:
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Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts
Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic
Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer
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Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein
#TheManilaTimes
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NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, good morning. Welcome to the Manila Times Roundtable. We're here today with Carlos
00:09Vazquez, who is Chief of the Climate, Environment and Resilience Program of UNICEF Philippines.
00:19Welcome Carlos to the Manila Times.
00:22Good morning and thank you for having me.
00:23Well, to start off with what you do, I mean, it's such an important and, as I understand
00:30it, multifaceted role being chief of this. Can you talk about that? What's under climate,
00:37environment and resilience that we were talking about earlier?
00:40Yes, great. Maybe a little bit of a background. This outcome or this section within UNICEF
00:50is new and it is under the new country program nine that started in March of this year. And
01:02basically this outcome has four components. Wash, water, sanitation and hygiene. DRR,
01:13climate change and youth. The climate change is kind of like a strategic shift from country
01:24program eight to country program nine. And UNICEF is focusing on the importance of climate
01:34and the impact on children. So we're taking a deliberate focus on climate and how it's
01:42impacting children in the Philippines.
01:44So DRR, I suppose, is disaster resilience.
01:46Disaster risk reduction.
01:48Disaster risk reduction. That's interesting. I was telling you earlier, people are familiar
01:55with the name UNICEF. They work with you. There are UNICEF ambassadors here. So I think
02:00you've done a good job or UNICEF has done a good job. Maybe I think making the organization
02:05known. But I would guess though that not many people are actually aware of what UNICEF does.
02:11Maybe you can talk about that and what is your primary mandate. There's many things that UNICEF
02:23is looking at worldwide. But maybe in the Philippines, what specific problems or issues
02:28is UNICEF focusing on in this country?
02:31Yeah. So the mandate of UNICEF is to protect the rights of the child. And we work mainly
02:40with women and children and vulnerable communities. And the focus, the programmatic focus, is
02:52on education, health, nutrition, child protection, social policy, and water and sanitation.
03:02We are a human rights-based organization as part of the UN. And all our work, whether
03:10it's development or humanitarian response, is making sure that children's rights are
03:17protected and fulfilled. That's, let's say, the mandate globally. In the Philippines,
03:27those areas of work may take a different shape depending on the situation affecting or impacting
03:38children. So, for example, on education, at the moment, the team is working with the government
03:47on the learning gap due to the pandemic. And we've seen some of the latest regional and
03:55global results, the PISA. On nutrition, for example, the focus is on healthy diets. We
04:07know that Filipinos or children are impacted either with obesity or malnutrition, which
04:15is kind of a contradiction, having both at the same time. In terms of water and sanitation,
04:26we're looking at closing the gap on access to basic and safely managed sanitation and
04:34access to water. Child protection and social policy look at the policy environment, working
04:46closely with government departments and ministries. But all of it is keeping in mind the rights
04:54of the child.
04:55Right. Yeah, I mean, as you said, the problem is complex. But you also mentioned a while
05:01ago that the water program is sort of new, it's a new focus.
05:06Climate.
05:07Climate is a new focus, right? So, you know, with the climate, what's the concern? Climate
05:18has been talked about for a while. Is there a realization that there's or is there some
05:25urgency now to focus? Is that the message, I think?
05:30Climate has been going on, as you say, for a while. It's not something new and it's not
05:35something distant either. It's something that is at the doorsteps, right? You can look at
05:42the-
05:43I guess it's a challenge, right? People think it's far away, but it's not. Climate change,
05:50you can look at it from different perspectives. One, I think, is that we should look at it
05:57from a climate justice angle. What does that mean? It means that the Philippines is one
06:04of the countries that emits the lowest amount of green gases, which is the reason why we
06:13have climate change and the rise of temperatures. But the Philippines, especially children,
06:19are the ones that are most affected by the impacts of climate change. So we contribute
06:26little, but we are impacted quite a bit, right? So there's an injustice there. There's
06:32an imbalance. Having said that, there's a lot of work that I believe has to be done
06:42at individual level. For example, Philippines is one of the highest producers of plastic
06:50and polluters of plastic.
06:54Number one or number two, I think.
06:56So this requires commitment, if you will, a social contract of each one of us to say,
07:05I'm going to consume less plastic and I'm going to recycle everything that goes through
07:12my home or through my hands on a daily basis. Without individual commitment, it will be
07:20very difficult to reverse back the damage on the environment. Now, from a different
07:28perspective, so we know that climate change will have an impact on water, right? There
07:35will be droughts, either droughts or too much water, floods. And this could have an impact
07:41on food production, healthy food production. So we're looking at the from water to food
07:47nexus. Without water, you can't have food. Without food, you have malnutrition and stunting.
07:55We know that almost 30% of children under five in the Philippines are stunted, right?
08:03And that's an irreversible condition that affects many, many children in the Philippines.
08:11And, you know, so basically your story is determined before you turn five, right? You
08:19won't be able to complete your school, you won't be able to, let's say, make a decent
08:26living and most likely won't be able to escape the cycle of poverty or fall into the cycle
08:33of poverty.
08:34I'm not sure if you've seen, there was a study done by the Management Association in the
08:39Philippines, and they were saying something similar. And their point was that, you know,
08:44if you intervene at the school age, right, then it may be too late. And I think their
08:50position was that maybe even lactating mothers, you know, should be helped with malnutrition
08:57and I suppose that covers also access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
09:03Yes.
09:05But the policymakers seem to be more focused on the welfare of the children while they're
09:11in school, which is good, right? But I think the point that they're making is that maybe
09:16the intervention of government at least should come in earlier. Is that something that is
09:22consistent with what UNICEF is trying to say?
09:27We have done a couple of projects supported by the government of Korea on the first 1,000
09:35days.
09:36Of the child, yeah.
09:37First 1,000 days from inception to birth. And it's looking at the child in the full
09:44cycle, right, from inception to the first months of health and nutrition, access to
09:56all the services that a newborn should have. So it is absolutely correct now that the first
10:031,000 days in the context of climate change could be threatened, right? If you don't have
10:09access to clean drinking water, the health of the mother and the child will be compromised.
10:15If you don't have access to safely managed sanitation, your health will be impacted.
10:22Now, there's another angle as well, which is that all these services that people don't
10:32have access to have a socioeconomic impact. Poor sanitation costs the Philippines economy
10:41roughly $1.5 billion a year. And the stunting situation costs the Philippines about $3.5
10:50billion a year. So combined, we're talking about a $5 billion economic cost to the Philippines
10:58economy.
10:59That's a much bigger number than what I remember you mentioning at the event where we met,
11:05which is the water.org Phoenix forum. I do remember you said that there's a $1.5 billion
11:11gap.
11:12No, not a gap. That's the cost of the-
11:15Poor sanitation.
11:16The socioeconomic cost of poor sanitation.
11:18But you're saying that the $5 billion was the-
11:21Combined between nutrition and sanitation. So there's an economic link, but there's also
11:29a programmatic link. Children that are stunted are children that don't have access to clean
11:36water and safe sanitation. So they go hand in hand.
11:45You've been to different countries. You've been hosted in Papua New Guinea. You mentioned
11:50earlier you were in Laos. Of course, at the UN office in New York. You've seen this from
12:00a global perspective. What are some of the best practices that you've seen or UNICEF
12:09has noticed that you think would be suitable for the Philippines? Because solutions are
12:15not one-size-fit-all thing, right? But what do you think might work here from what you've
12:22seen in terms of the problem we're dealing with?
12:30So having worked in different countries and visited more than, I don't know, 30 countries
12:36on stretch assignments or meeting with governments-
12:40On this precise issue.
12:45I would say that your biggest- In the Philippines, the biggest gift that you have is that poor
12:57people in the, let's say, in the fifth or sixth class municipalities are not sitting
13:06down waiting for handouts.
13:08Okay. All right.
13:10I have yet, in three and a half years, I have yet to meet a poor person that is waiting
13:18for UNICEF to give them something.
13:20Okay.
13:21What they want is access to information.
13:25Okay.
13:26Access to technical solutions so that they can find and resolve their own issues.
13:34Okay.
13:35I think this is the biggest human capital that a country can have and hope for.
13:42That means that with that, you already have, let's say, almost the genesis of a social
13:49movement, right?
13:51So if there was political leadership at national level that says we need to eliminate open
14:01defecation, which is affecting-
14:03Is that a problem also in the Philippines?
14:04I mean-
14:05Three percent of the-
14:06Really?
14:07Three percent of the Philippines practices open defecation.
14:10So they don't have access to sanitary, basically bathrooms, right?
14:15Toilets.
14:16We're talking about almost 20 million people-
14:18Wow.
14:19Without access to toilets.
14:21Right.
14:22Like we said before, those 20 million people are connected to stunting.
14:27They have health issues.
14:28It's all related.
14:29It's all related, right?
14:30Yeah.
14:31So if there was political commitment to say, guys, we have to get together.
14:37We have to find a solution for this.
14:40These 20 million people are already on board to roll up their-
14:47Sleeves, yeah.
14:48Bottoms and get to work.
14:50Yeah, get the answer.
14:51Yeah, sure.
14:52So once you have that directive, then you come up with a menu of options to address
14:59each group according to the context in which they live.
15:05Right.
15:06So you said people are looking for information.
15:08That's what's missing.
15:10What exactly is it?
15:12Information on the solution or information on the financing or information on the policy or-
15:19Yeah.
15:20What's missing?
15:23I would say first, I would say that a large percentage of these almost 20 million people
15:30don't understand the importance of sanitation.
15:33Okay.
15:34Right?
15:35So they think that if they go to-
15:36They take it for granted?
15:37They take it for granted because they don't have the information.
15:39I see.
15:40I see.
15:41I get it.
15:42They don't know that by going to the bush-
15:43Right.
15:44And open defecating-
15:45Right.
15:46And not washing their hands-
15:47Yeah.
15:48That could have a health implication.
15:49Not to mention an economic impact, yeah.
15:51On them and their children.
15:52Right?
15:53Sure.
15:54So number one, we need to create awareness.
15:57Okay.
15:58Once you create the awareness, you kickstart the demand.
16:02Yeah.
16:03Because if now they know that-
16:04Right.
16:05Practicing open defecation is not good for them and their future and their children's future-
16:10Sure.
16:11Now they want a toilet.
16:12Sure.
16:13And they want access to clean water.
16:14Sure.
16:15So now you have activated the demand.
16:18Once you have the demand, then you can have different ways of meeting that demand.
16:24Sure.
16:25UNICEF is at the moment working on different ways to address this.
16:31One is output-based blended financing, which is where a household will get a grant from the government.
16:38They're willing to take out a loan-
16:41Okay.
16:42Right?
16:43And then they invest on the construction of the latrines or the toilets.
16:50Yeah.
16:51Right?
16:52So that's a perfect example of poor people willing to take a loan to get a toilet at their house.
17:01Funnily enough, and actually it's not funny, it's very, very telling to my first statement.
17:07The rate of repayment on these loans-
17:11Very good.
17:12Is 99%.
17:13Yeah.
17:14Interesting.
17:15So people-
17:16The poor people, they pay their debt.
17:17Poor people are taking loans-
17:19Yeah.
17:20To fulfill their human rights on access to sanitation.
17:24And when they take out the loan, their repayment rate is 99%.
17:29If I was the government, I would be-
17:32Or if I were in business, I would think that would be-
17:34I would be-
17:35But you-
17:36Then the problem becomes an opportunity.
17:39Right.
17:40I go back to the original question, because as I said, you've seen this from a global perspective.
17:44And we've heard that from other people, that the poor are very good in paying their obligations, right?
17:51Yeah.
17:53What would entice more businessmen, you think, to see that as an opportunity?
17:58Businesses?
17:59Yes.
18:00I mean, because that's one of the things that was also mentioned in the forum that we both attended.
18:06Yeah.
18:07The role of the private sector and public-private partnership, right?
18:10And when you say that there's an opportunity, I mean, you said there's an opportunity for government.
18:16There's also an opportunity for business.
18:18For business, yes.
18:19For the private sector, right?
18:20Yes.
18:21And I think the point of that forum was that there needs to be a partnership.
18:25Yes.
18:26What would make it more evident or more compelling for the private sector if government is not-
18:32Maybe it's too busy doing other things, and there are many things that governments do all over the world.
18:37But what would make it more compelling for the private sector to say, hey, this is a good market.
18:42They pay their debts, unlike maybe some of their clients in the market.
18:47Let me see.
18:48In terms of water.
18:52Yeah.
18:53Right?
18:54The private sector, it's very much involved in water at local level, at municipal level.
19:03And they have found a way to actually make money with water, right?
19:12Either by concessions or setting up water points for people to have access to clean drinking water.
19:22Now, we have to find a similar path on sanitation.
19:28When we meet with partners, we all agree that sanitation is not that sexy.
19:35Okay.
19:36Water is blue.
19:39You have people like Mike Damon involved.
19:41Sure.
19:42It's a different world.
19:43So, in a way, our challenge is how do we present sanitation in a way that you're still talking about the issue, but you make it-
19:55Sexy.
19:56More sensitive and appealing.
19:58Yeah.
19:59Right?
20:00Now, with this blended finance approach that we're taking or that we are testing with DOH, it's microfinance institutions that are giving the loans.
20:10Right?
20:11Okay.
20:12Now, let's say in my fantasy world, I would imagine an ecosystem where you have microfinance, where you have, let's say, hardware stores, where you have manufacturers of toilet bowls.
20:32The different components, including policy and directives and technical designs on how to build your toilets.
20:42In other words, and this is something that we spoke about with Neda two and a half years ago.
20:53Okay.
20:54We were talking about this, and I said, imagine if we had an app on your phone like Grab.
21:00Yeah.
21:01But for sanitation.
21:02Yeah.
21:03Or for wash.
21:04Yeah.
21:05And you open that app, and everything you needed was in your hand.
21:09Already there.
21:10Financing, policy, technical drawings, plumbers, people that can fix your toilet or water connection.
21:21Everything was here, and you could actually be part of the process, and somebody would be making a profit out of this small platform.
21:31You said two years ago.
21:32So, is that something that they are working on, hopefully?
21:36Well, it was.
21:37Or did they leave?
21:38No, no.
21:39Nobody.
21:40I don't want to put you on the spot.
21:41It was one of these moments of brainstorming.
21:43Sure.
21:44And when you run the numbers.
21:45It makes sense.
21:46It actually makes sense.
21:47Right?
21:48Yeah.
21:49So, what is the perspective, the human side?
21:51I always imagine, let's say you're a single mother with three kids.
21:55You wake up in the morning, the toilet is not working.
21:58Yeah.
21:59What are your options?
22:00You don't go to work to fix the toilet.
22:03Sure.
22:04Or you all go to school and work without taking care of your basic human needs.
22:09Sure.
22:10Right?
22:11And if you decide not to go to work, you might lose the job.
22:14Yeah.
22:15Right?
22:16Because large parts of the population in the Philippines have a very precarious work arrangement.
22:23Sure.
22:24So, if you don't go, you lose your job.
22:25Right, right, right.
22:26You have two, three kids.
22:27They can't go to school.
22:28You can't buy the food.
22:29It becomes.
22:30A vicious cycle.
22:31A vicious cycle.
22:32Yeah.
22:33The opposite would be that if you have the app, you open the app, you call the plumber,
22:38you don't have the money, you apply for a loan.
22:41In five minutes, it's approved.
22:43You wire the money to the plumber.
22:45He comes, he fixes the toilet.
22:47Everybody can take care of their needs.
22:49Kids go to school.
22:51The mother goes to work.
22:53They all reconvene in the afternoon.
22:55And life goes on.
22:56I may be talking to you later.
22:58Maybe there's a business there I should be looking at.
23:01But, you know, this is.
23:05I believe that we need to be audacious in the way we think about the problem.
23:11We can't find solutions if we keep looking at the problem the same way.
23:18Let me give you another example.
23:20Okay.
23:21Which is linked to leadership.
23:24Okay.
23:25India, with more than a billion people, the president said no more open defecation.
23:33Okay.
23:34All right?
23:35The 3% of the Philippines, the 20 million people, that could be a municipality in India.
23:40Sure.
23:41And they did it.
23:42Because the president said no more open defecation.
23:46You all get to work.
23:48And show me how we're going to get it done.
23:50And it was a mix of different.
23:53And UNICEF was part of that journey in India.
23:56Yeah.
23:57So, you know, sometimes you need that first call.
24:00Yeah.
24:01And things will get activated.
24:04Well, you know, the government here did say that they want to reduce the poverty incidence to single digits by 2028.
24:10Which is the year when Mr. Marcos finishes his term.
24:14But I haven't heard policymakers go into the details that you are talking about.
24:20Let's say access to sanitation or to toilets or drinking water.
24:24Which is pretty much what you need to do to get rid of the poverty incidence.
24:31Well, NEDA actually developed and we supported the revision of the Philippines Water Sanitation Master Plan.
24:40Okay.
24:41So, right there, there's a plan of action and it's costed.
24:45It has a number attached to it in terms of how much it would cost to provide access to clean water, drinking water, and safely managed sanitation to every Filipino in the country.
24:57Now, are we going to be able to get there by 2028?
25:01I don't know.
25:02Yeah.
25:03The big message coming out of the World Water Forum in Bali in June was the private sector is not the solution.
25:12But we cannot do it without the private sector.
25:15Yeah.
25:16Right?
25:17You need a partnership.
25:18We need a partnership at all levels.
25:20The water sector in the Philippines is divided across more than 30 agencies.
25:27Sure.
25:28Now, the president has spoken and committed to create a water department to bring everybody under one umbrella.
25:37Yeah.
25:38And I think that would make a big difference.
25:40I see.
25:42But my question is how do we—these are, I think, good starting points, right?
25:47I mean, at least it's moving, but my point about not hearing it from more policymakers, I think, is the question.
25:58Maybe how do we make it mainstream?
26:01If information is, I mean, a basic thing that's needed, right, what do you think the messaging should—or what is UNICEF's messaging?
26:11Not just for the president, but for everyone down the line of the government bureaucracy to—
26:17Right.
26:18As you said, they may be thinking about the sexier part, which is the water, but they're neglecting the other part, which is sanitation or maybe some other key component, really, to look at.
26:28Because, as you said, they're all very complicated and all connected, but you can't just look at just one part of it.
26:34You need to look at it as a system, right?
26:37Yeah.
26:38What's UNICEF's basic message?
26:40I think, well, we know that communication is a big part of it, right, depending on who we're talking to.
26:45Sure, sure.
26:46If I am—let's say if I'm talking to the Minister of Finance, my message would be the solution to sanitation is one-third of the cost of the problem, right?
27:01So it makes sense to find a solution because it's cheaper than the problem, right?
27:08To a house owner or a head of a family, we need to give them the information that relates to the health of their kids, right, why sanitation is important.
27:24And then I would say change the narrative.
27:29For example, if I ask you two questions for the same problem.
27:34How much are you willing to pay for your toilet?
27:37Yeah.
27:38100 pesos, 300 pesos, or 500 pesos?
27:41That's one way to ask the question.
27:43The other way would be, how much are you willing to pay for the health of your children?
27:49Hmm, okay.
27:51100 pesos, 200 pesos, or 500 pesos?
27:54How you frame it is very important.
27:55How we frame the message is very, very important.
27:58In fact, you can even go further and say, how much are you willing to pay to avoid falling into the cycle of poverty?
28:07Now, that's a bigger message, right?
28:09Sure.
28:10And we know that having access to clean water and safe sanitation can prevent you from all these negative outcomes as you grow.
28:21I'm not sure how much of the data really is, you know, that you remember.
28:26In the Philippines, what would be like the basic investment or cost to that question?
28:34I mean, what are we talking about here per household, for instance?
28:38I mean, is it high in terms of pesos?
28:43So, we've been working with the Department of Health on a climate-resilient toilet.
28:50Okay.
28:51And the cost is about 40,000 pesos, right?
28:59Okay.
29:00Now, there is room to do value engineering and reducing the cost or depending on the context, right?
29:10Whether you're a coastal community or whether you're a mountain community.
29:13Of course, yeah.
29:14But that, let's say that cost is sort of an index.
29:17Okay.
29:18It could be up or down, but there is room to improve that number.
29:24Now, out of that money, like we said before, most of the people are willing to take a loan against that.
29:31And pay it, yeah.
29:32And pay it.
29:33Yeah.
29:34Right?
29:36Now, my hope is that with technology and outside-of-the-box thinking,
29:44we could reduce the cost and find solutions that are cost-effective.
29:49I would think there's take-up also.
29:50I mean, that volume demand, I'm sure that will also bring out the cost.
29:53But is there a company that you think people or smaller governments can go to,
30:00say they have the technology and we can go to them and supply this, I don't know, unit?
30:06Yeah.
30:07Right?
30:08And then maybe start there?
30:09Yeah.
30:10Or is that something the private sector should step into and develop and then sell to the government?
30:13Well, the good news is that, again, there's a wealth of technology existing in the Philippines.
30:24This year, we signed a work plan with DOST.
30:28Okay.
30:29DOST has desalination technology that could help us, for example, provide access to clean drinking water in Tawitawi.
30:38Okay.
30:39In Mindanao.
30:40Coastal communities, yeah.
30:42Where you have the highest deprivation levels in the country.
30:46Right.
30:47They have technology and solutions for rainwater collection systems.
30:55Yeah.
30:56Right?
30:57So we're working with them and seeing how far we can integrate their technologies into the work that we're doing when it comes to wash.
31:09And here, there's another piece of data that I want to share with you.
31:19If you look at the rainwater in the Philippines, the amount of water, and you put a price to it, the price of a liter of drinking water, the amount of money falling from the sky, or the amount of rainwater, and we put a price tag, there's about $240 billion worth of water.
31:43Is that worldwide?
31:44In the Philippines alone.
31:45$240 billion?
31:47Worth of water.
31:48Rainfall, yeah.
31:49Coming.
31:50That could be used, yeah.
31:52If you ask me how much of that water is being used or recycled?
31:57How much?
31:58Nearly nothing.
31:59Zero, nearly zero.
32:01Wow.
32:02So my quest has been with the Department of Education, trying to change the school design so that gutters and rainwater collection systems are installed in the 47,000 schools in the Philippines.
32:17Because the opportunity cost is $240 million, billion?
32:20Billion.
32:21Billion, wow.
32:22$240 billion.
32:24A year?
32:25A year.
32:26Wow.
32:27That's a powerful message.
32:28That's a lot of money that could be reinvested into social services.
32:37Wow.
32:38Well, we're running out of time, but maybe, I feel like we just scratched the surface here.
32:44There's so much to talk about.
32:45But before we go, maybe talk about your posting here.
32:48I mean, you've just arrived a few months ago, five, six months ago?
32:51No, no, no.
32:52I arrived three and a half years ago.
32:54Oh, three and a half years ago.
32:55Yes.
32:56You're from Chile.
32:57From Chile.
32:58Yeah, and you've been posted to many countries.
33:02Laos was another assignment that you had in the region.
33:06But what do you want to accomplish while you're here?
33:12I hope that UNICEF is not just working you to the bone here.
33:16I hope you get the chance to see some parts of the country.
33:20I know you mentioned Tawi-Tawi.
33:22I mean, you get to see the beaches there, not just the areas that need access to water and sanitation.
33:27So on a personal level, I feel very fortunate that, quote unquote, I get paid to do what I love to do.
33:35So for me, this is not a job.
33:39This is a calling, in a way, right?
33:42So I am fully dedicated.
33:45I do my work with a lot of passion, but above all, with a lot of respect to the people, the children in the communities where we serve.
33:58And from a technical or professional aspect, before I leave, and I tell this to Asset Planta INEDA all the time,
34:08I wish we could move the needle on open defecation before I leave.
34:12Even from 3% to 1%.
34:15Let's try to move it a little bit, whatever it is, because then we can say something.
34:21We can co-write a narrative.
34:26Sure.
34:27Between UNICEF, the government, private sector, and a contribution on what contribution we made to the country.
34:36Let me share with you one story before I leave.
34:40During Typhoon Odette, we were supporting many communities.
34:45And there's one project that we did with an indigenous people community in Visayas.
34:53They were Bajau people that moved from Mindanao to Visayas.
34:57No, Bajau, you say Sama Sama.
35:00Yes.
35:02About 30 years ago.
35:04In 30 years, they never had a toilet, and they never had a water connection.
35:11As part of the response, we built a water connection.
35:15New York had sent us an email out of the blue and said we have about five accessible toilets.
35:23Would you want them?
35:24I said, yes.
35:26We installed the toilets in the community.
35:29We installed the water connection.
35:31The day the community turned the water tap on, their water bill went down by 800%.
35:42Wow.
35:43That means that now every household in that community could allocate the resources that were being spent on water, obviously overpriced.
35:54Sure.
35:55On better education for their children, better health, and better nutrition.
36:01Wow.
36:02So that's the impact that the sector can have, right?
36:09It's tangible, it's real.
36:12Sure.
36:13It could help the entire country to move up in the ladder of development.
36:19Before we go, is there a message that you think UNICEF would like to maybe underscore?
36:28Because you said you're like a diplomat.
36:30You move from country to country.
36:32You've been here a few years.
36:35What would you do?
36:37If you could maybe boil it down to a message, leave a legacy, or as you said, move the needle.
36:44Is there something else that you want the government to work on other than just what you mentioned?
36:52I would say let's band together to protect children's rights.
37:00If we use that as our north, as our compass, then we can be transformative.
37:08We can change the lives of millions of Filipino children if we all focus with the same intensity on the rights of the child.
37:20I think it's our mandate.
37:23It's basic.
37:24The country has signed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and it makes sense.
37:30No matter how you cut it, it makes sense.
37:36To see a child reach and fulfill their rights and be part of society, to be witness to that, I think is a gift.
37:50Then on a personal level, I think we need to think about what is our social contract.
37:57How do we commit personally to the other?
38:01How do I do my best so that one person can move and have better access to services and fulfill their human rights?
38:12I think if we all did that and not commit to somebody in your life, some things could change.
38:24Carlos, thank you very much for your time.
38:27It's very interesting.
38:28Like I said, I think we may have to do this more often because there's so many things to go over.
38:34Like I said, I feel somewhat that we just scratched the surface.
38:39Thank you for your time.
38:40My pleasure.
38:41I know that this is a work of passion for you, but I do hope that you enjoy and your family enjoys your stay in the Philippines.
38:51Thank you very much.
38:52Okay, Carlos.
38:54All right, thank you.