Manila—On February 17, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) launched new partnerships that will provide free technical-vocational skills and employability training for nearly 4,000 unemployed, out-of-school youth.
USAID Mission Director Ryan Washburn and PBEd Board of Trustees Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. formalized the collaboration with seven private sector companies and one university from the Greater Manila Area and Cagayan de Oro. The partnership will contribute more than Php42 million worth of support to co-sponsor the training needs of youth aged 18-30 under the YouthWorks PH project.
“The skills that the out-of-school youth learn will develop them into productive employees or entrepreneurs, community change makers, and leaders who will contribute to helping steer the country’s economic recovery from the impacts of the pandemic,” said Mission Director Washburn. “As the Philippines’ enduring friend, partner, and ally, the United States remains committed to partnering with Philippine stakeholders to sustain and accelerate inclusive growth, especially for the country’s youth.”
“This partnership launch builds on YouthWorks PH’s existing suite of skills training resources in pandemic-resilient industries. Importantly, the partnerships we are forging today will also fill gaps in vital and growing sectors, such as the automotive sector and ICT,” said del Rosario.
YouthWorks PH is USAID’s private sector-driven employability initiative with PBEd and is a technical-vocational training program for youth who are currently not studying, training, or employed. The project provides free skills training, allowances, and mentoring in sectors such as construction, services and hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and logistics. Youth participants are also placed in on-the-job training slots, with the promise of employment with the partner companies once they complete the program and qualify.
The companies that joined the list of YouthWorks PH partners include Asiapro, a recognized provider of customized managed services solutions for different industries, which will provide Php40 million worth of training support to 3,000 youth in the construction industry. Universidad de Manila also signed on to provide skills training and certification programs to the youth.
Other partners include Blogapalooza, Inc., the Philippines’ premier influencer marketing company, which will give 25 youth training slots in marketing and graphic design; Greencars Mindanao Corp. with Crossroads Training Institute, which will offer automotive servicing courses to 50 youth of Cagayan de Oro City; Luljetta’s Place, which will open at least 15 slots in kitchen and front desk services, housekeeping, and administrative positions in the Greater Manila Area; Messy Bessy Cleaners and HOUSE (Helping Ourselves Through Sustainable Enterprises) Foundation with 15 slots in social enterprise work; and Alrose Group of Companies, a franchisee of at least 16 Filipino fast food chains in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City which will offer at least 30 in-company training slots.
To date, the USAID-PBEd partnership has already reached nearly 4,000 unemployed and out-of-school youths, and has opened up more than 13,000 training positions in different industries nationwide.

MANILA – The Philippines’ sovereignty over the disputed South China Sea (SCS) is a “non-negotiable” part of the United States’ thrust in the Indo-Pacific region, the US Embassy in Manila said Thursday.

“The US is a proud Indo-Pacific member and we will forge stronger connections with our treaty allies, including the Philippines to promote broad-based prosperity and security,” US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava said, citing a recent policy speech by State Secretary Antony Blinken.

“Philippine sovereignty over its territorial waters in South China is a non-negotiable part of the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” she added.

She said Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has been “very active in his diplomatic efforts” to make clear what the Philippine rights are in the region, and the US “certainly supports that”.

“I think you saw our statement after the Whitsun Reef incident last March and again in the Ayungin Shoal incident in November. We are continuing to reiterate these statements and urging the People’s Republic of China to respect the rights of the Philippines and other regions when it comes to this issue,” she said.

In a recent State Department report, the US government said Beijing’s maritime claims in the South China Sea “gravely undermine the rule of law in the oceans”.

Variava underscored the US’ readiness to work with the Philippines and other nations to “help support and bolster” the international rules-based order, and free and open use of the South China Sea.

China, the Philippines, and several other littoral states are locked in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, where Beijing claims about 80 percent of the strategic water based on what it calls “historic rights”.

At present, the parties are utilizing bilateral and multilateral means to tackle the issue, including negotiating on a Code of Conduct with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The Philippines and China convene regular Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the SCS, with the most recent virtually held in May 2021.

As the 2022 elections loom, Variava expressed confidence that any discussions between the next administration and other countries on the South China Sea would not weaken the Philippine-US alliance.

“As a sovereign country, it is expected that the Philippines will have discussions with other countries in the region in attempting to resolve the territorial disputes, those discussions will not weaken a longstanding alliance between the US and the Philippines which is proven time and again to be a bedrock of stability and prosperity in this region,” she said.

She also reiterated that the US commitment to Philippine security is firm as she cited the PHP57 billion military assistance it has provided since 2015.
“The Philippines remains the largest recipient of military aid in the Indo-Pacific and this is a testament to our commitment to the Philippines and the peace and stability in this region,” she said. (PNA)

School leaders developed and implemented their projects after attending USAID’s “Instructional Leadership Training: Strengthening Learning Conditions for Early Literacy.” The training focused on developing literacy leaders who can foster conditions for integrating social and emotional learning, gender equity and social inclusion, and developmentally appropriate practices to support quality literacy instruction.

USAID officials, DepEd representatives, educators from DepEd Regions 5 and 6, and other key partners and stakeholders attended the conference where teachers and administrators shared their results.

“As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries and the 60th anniversary of USAID in the Philippines, the U.S. government, through USAID, remains committed to supporting DepEd in its goal to provide children and youth with the necessary skills for their growth and development,” said USAID Philippines Acting Mission Director Sean E. Callahan.

The event featured a virtual poster and video exhibition of project initiatives, a virtual area featuring USAID-supported early grade learning materials, and read-aloud events featuring books in Filipino, English, and mother-tongue languages developed with USAID support. The conference also included discussions on literacy leadership, home partners’ literacy programs, school climate, and gender equality and social inclusion.

“The initiatives of the USAID Advancing Basic Education (ABC+) project on early grade reading proficiency and on knowledge-sharing for capacity building provides significant contributions to DepEd’s directive on decisively addressing the challenge of quality on basic education,” said DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno A. Malaluan. “I look forward to the documentation of the presentations and the proceedings of this learning conference to be a readily available reference material for a range of good practices in early grade literacy in basic education.”

Since 2019, USAID, through its ABC+ project, has trained more than 10,000 teachers, school heads, supervisors, and principals, and provided 9 million early grade learning materials.

For the past 60 years, USAID has worked with the Philippine government and local organizations to achieve shared development goals, investing more than Php247.5 billion ($5.1 billion) to support the Philippines.

Manila—On December 8 and 10, Filipino youth leaders joined Summit for Democracy events hosted by high-level U.S. officials that focused on the role of youth in strengthening democracy worldwide.
Lynrose Jane Genon, a Philippine Youth Leadership Program alumna and Young Women Leaders for Peace-Philippines Executive Committee Member, joined a panel with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and young leaders from Ukraine, Zambia, and Chile, for a virtual Young Democratic Leaders Discussion on December 8.
Meanwhile, YSEALI Academic Fellow and National Society of Parliamentarians Chief Operating Officer Bryan Ezra Gonzales joined a select group of 70 youth leaders at the Youth Town Hall with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on December 10 to discuss challenges to democratic norms and potential solutions.
During the Young Democratic Leaders Discussion with Secretary Blinken, Genon shared her insights about Filipino youth’s views on challenges to youth engagement in democracy, opportunities for civic participation, and ways to support Filipino youth’s political and civic involvement.
Genon said the “discussion is timely and relevant, and it is a vital platform for [youth] to voice [their] truths to those in positions of power, in the hopes of influencing legislation and bringing genuine and practical change to young people’s lives.”
On the Youth Town Hall with Ambassador Greenfield, Gonzales said, “young people today face the immense challenge of facilitating a better normal, not only in the post-pandemic sense, but in building a more optimistic future for democracy everywhere.”
“The Youth Town Hall was a timely opportunity for young people to reflect on our role in redefining liberty and what it should mean in a world that continues to be threatened by tyranny,” he added.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the Summit for Democracy on December 9-10, bringing together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set an agenda for democratic renewal and tackle the most significant challenges faced by democracies today through collective action. Recorded sessions of the summit can be found at https://www.state.gov/summit-for-democracy/.