The Pasig City local government continues to ramp up its efforts to support the city’s out-of-school youth (OSY) by strengthening its Youth Development Alliance (YDA) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, City Councilors Quin Cruz, Corazon Raymundo, and Simon Romulo Tantoco, Pasig Schools Division Office (SDO) Superintendent Evalou Agustin, and USAID Opportunity 2.0 Chief of Party Dr. David Hall signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in a brief ceremony held at the Pasig Elementary School on Friday, March 18.

Other attendees included representatives from the Education Development Center (EDC), Pamantasan Lungsod Ng Pasig (PLP), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Local Youth Development Office (LYDO), Department Of Trade And Industry (DTI), affiliated civil society organizations (CSO), and private sector groups.

The MOU seeks to strengthen the YDA under USAID’s Opportunity 2.0 program.

Opportunity 2.0 is a five-year program that started in March 2020 and operates across many countries in the globe. USAID is working with 15 cities across the Philippines to provide “second chances” to over 180,000 beneficiaries.

“The aim of the program is to strengthen systems that enable OSY in the Philippines to return to education, employment, and self-employment…What the YDA does [is] it brings together all stakeholders who have an interest in helping OSY and in strengthening the systems,” Hall said in his speech at the event.

He explained that the YDA unites the local institutions – like the Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) – CSOs, and the private sector who want to engage in youth development.

The YDA in each of the 15 cities in the country is localized according to the needs of their particular local governments and OSY conditions, Hall emphasized.

The combination of public-private partnerships in Pasig is unique to the YDAs of other areas.

Last Sept. 15, 2022, the local government signed the Declaration of Commitment for the Opportunity 2.0 program, upholding the Pasig YDA’s vows for the positive development of OSY.

“Even before we were presented with this program, we already saw or recognized the need to improve when it comes to our out-of-school youth and our services, particularly with the profiling or mapping of our OSYs. They came at the opportune, right time,” Sotto said.

“We’re talking about empowering our OSY and our young Pasiguenos. But how are we going to empower them if we don’t know who and where they are?,” he added.

Sotto said they have been talking with officials in the city’s 30 barangays, the local youth council, and the SDO to discuss efficient ways of reaching out to OSY in all areas of Pasig.

The mayor highlighted City Councilors Cruz, Raymundo, and Tantoco as the “champions” of the program, spearheading events and activities to support OSY in the city.

On her social media page, Raymundo said a meeting was held by the YDA’s three subcommittees (Education and Training; Employment and Entrepreneurship; and Youth Engagement) to review and update the current OSY Development Plan.

The meeting was convened immediately in order “to strengthen the paths identified earlier by partners and collaborators towards ensuring better opportunities in work and in life of OSY.”

Best practices learned from the National YDA Summit in Davao City last February 2023, attended by Councilors Raymundo and Cruz, were also applied.