Introduction Two years have passed since the onset of the Asian financial crisis.
Economic indicators suggest that the crisis-stricken countries are on the recovery track.
It is not clear, however, if a similar progress is occurring in the social sectors. While there are regular and frequent data on economic output, prices and international reserves, the data on poverty incidence, school dropouts, and malnutrition prevalence are not as readily available. The absence of an adequate social monitoring system makes it difficult to assess the impact of macroeconomic policies and shocks on the social sectors. This also hampers the design and implementation of targeted interventions to alleviate the adverse impacts of the policies and crises on the households. Current state of monitoring In the Philippines, there are attempts to develop monitoring systems, especially related to poverty.