CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–Realizing its commitment in connecting the Cagayan de Oro City youth to the program and the creation of a youth alumni network, USAID Opportunity 2.0 virtually conducted an O2 Youth Gathering.
The roll of participants include 113 students from Alternative Learning System of Department of Education (DepEd–ALS), 7 21st Learners of Cagayan de Oro Technical Vocational Institute, and 15 TOP youths of CDO, including the youth completers of its WRN modules (Life Skills Module and 21st Century Skills Module).
The activity provided the youth with an overview of meaningful youth engagement. Moreover, it served as a venue for the invited youth to participate in the program’s youth volunteer activities and come up with a different youth-led initiative that will create awareness and influence their fellow youth that will enable an environment where youth engagement is vital.
USAID Opportunity 2.0 realized this activity as a part of the youth engagement, a component of holistic positive youth development. It serves as a platform for youth voices to be heard and reinforces youth life skills and leadership capacities. Through meaningful youth engagement, there will be an “inclusive, intentional, and mutually respectful partnership between youth and adults where decision-making is shared and contributions are valued”.
Prior to the conduct of the O2 Youth Gathering, the youth development team for USAID Opportunity 2.0 collaboratively worked with the Youth Engagement Technical Working Group of the Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance together with TOP, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and DepEd ALS in reaching out the youths, in which are eventually called as “O2 Youth.”
This is an innovative strategy to promote participatory multi-sectoral partnership, collaboration, and a catalyst for youth engagement and empowerment.
O2 Youth Gathering is targeted to jumpstart the database for all the O2 Youth Alumni and serve as a venue to gather information for the Youth Pathways Profiling Form Survey for Opportunity 2.0 program. (USAID Opportunity 2.0/PIA-10)
