CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Youth in the Bangsamoro Region will receive more programs after the Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) inked an agreement on cooperation on programs focusing on youth participation in peace promotion, volunteerism, and leadership.
BYC chairperson Marjanie Macasalong and UNDP resident representative Selva Ramachandran signed the document on Saturday, Dec. 5, in Cagayan de Oro City.
Macasalong said the programs under the agreement include development and implementation of Bangsamoro Youth Volunteers Program (BYVP), formulation of Regional Action Plan on Youth, Peace, and Security (RAP-YPS), and implementation of Youth Social Innovation and Leadership Initiatives.
“We won’t be able to do this on our own, and that is why we are very thankful that we are doing this with our partners from the UNDP,” Macasalong said.
He further highlighted that collaboration with stakeholders, including that of the national and local governments, the civil society organizations, community-based organizations, and the ordinary citizens, will help every program in succedding.
Some 20 representatives from different youth organizations in the cities of Cotabato and Marawi, and in the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur participated in designing and planning the programs workplan on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 to 6.
The representatives also helped in drafting BYC’s strategic communication plan that focused on five priority areas of health, education, peacebuilding and security, governance, and active citizenship under the Bangsamoro Youth Transition Priority Agenda (BYTPA).
In August 2020, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) adopted the BYTPA—the region’s strategic youth development roadmap from 2020 until 2022. (Bureau of Public Information)
