Sustainable Development Goals: All Norwegian companies support them – but how is the Philippines as a whole performing?

Leland Joseph dela Cruz
AVP for Social and Environmental Engagement for Development and Sustainability,
Ateneo de Manila University

In this talk, Dr. Dela Cruz argues that a shift from a poverty lens to a vulnerability lens helps make sense of the implications of the Philippines’ progress (or lack of progress) towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This shift also goes a long way towards explaining recent political developments. While maintaining a concern for addressing poverty and basic needs deprivation, a vulnerability approach highlights new sources of vulnerability, emphasizes the importance of building resilience, and introduces new approaches to addressing various social concerns.

Dr. Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Social and Environmental Engagement for Development and Sustainability of the Ateneo de Manila University. He is also an Associate Professor of Ateneo’s Department of Development Studies. He has taught Economics, Development Studies, and Political Science at the Ateneo for over thirty years and he is also a professorial lecturer of Sociology at the University of the Philippines Diliman where he graduated with a Ph.D in Sociology in 2013. He has served on the British Embassy Programme Board and sits on the Board of various academic and civil society organizations.