ARMM vows to strengthen youth empowerment in the region

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=827963
• Wednesday, November 18, 2015

(PNA), FFC/NYP/EOF

COTABATO CITY (PNA) –- Convinced the youth plays major roles in peace and development in their respective communities, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Tuesday vowed to strengthen its commitment to empower young leaders in the province of Basilan, officials said.

This commitment was sealed through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Autonomous Regional Government and Ayala Foundation, Inc. with the region’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) - Basilan provincial office.

The agreement was signed in Isabela City, Basilan with ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman leading the ceremony.

The MoA includes support to the implementation of the projects of the Basilan Young Leaders Alumni, through the Leadership Communities (LeadCom) program.

Moreover, it also provides for stakeholders to handle the program’s administrative and logistical support and skills and livelihood training requirements.

Hataman said the BYLP is an initiative that empowers, inspires and involves the next-generation leaders of Basilan. It conducts plenary discussions, workshops, team-building activities, educational tours and institutional visits to various sites and locations all over the country.

The LeadCom, on the other hand, is a program that teaches youth leaders to explore and implement projects like skills and livelihood training, youth capacity building, health and alternative medicine awareness campaigns, and peace and governance initiatives for the province’s conflict-affected residents.

The project trains and empowers community-based youth organizations by helping them design and implement projects that address their communities’ most pressing needs. It enables young leaders to meaningfully contribute to the development of their communities.

"The LeadCom project would “respond to the challenge of creating stronger and more sustainable growth and development opportunities in the province of Basilan,” Hataman told reporters.

"It helps fulfill the youth leadership and development thrust of the Basilan Development Program,” Hataman said of the framework designed to contribute to the fulfillment of the peace agreement for the Bangsamoro as the foundation of lasting and durable peace in Mindanao.

To fund the project, the ARMM has earmarked PHP5 million while the Ayala Foundation extended PHP100,000 as seed money. The amount was downloaded to the DILG-Basilan office.

LeadCom Basilan, with its partners Office of the Regional Governor-ARMM, Nagdilaab Foundation, Inc., and the Eisenhower fellowship Association of the Philippines, started in 2012.

It has implemented 97 youth projects, and trained 953 youth leaders and 754 facilitators. It has awarded PHP970,000 to different youth groups all over the country and reached 6,771 direct beneficiaries as well as mobilized 827 volunteers from local communities.