The National Youth Commission (NYC) acknowledged the support of the United Nations Population Fund in its quest for reforms to give the Filipino youth a meaningful role in development.

In simple rites, NYC Chairman and CEO Leon Flores III emphasized UNFPA’s support in “providing a meaningful voice for the Filipino youth in the pursuit of attaining the goals on youth welfare and development.”

UNFPA Country Representative Ugochi Daniels received the plaque of appreciation from NYC.

The agency, which spearheads and coordinates the government’s youth development programs to provide them with opportunities to actively participate in nation building, has been a partner of UNFPA in promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) and rights by integrating these concerns in the government’s youth programs.

Among the NYC initiatives supported by UNFPA is the orientation and planning for regional advisory councils for ASRH for the mainstreaming of the Philippine Youth Development Plan (2011-2016) in regional youth plans of various agencies and local government units.

UNFPA also supported the development of the National Youth Volunteering program, which came up with the framework for involving volunteers in various government programs.

Last year, the NYC conducted the very first National Summit on Teen Pregnancy which was able to identify issues, interventions and proposed strategies and inter-agency collaboration on the prevention of teen pregnancy. A series of local summits on teen pregnancy were subsequently organized in different parts of the country to mobilize more support for ASRH programs.

Other NYC programs supported by UNFPA include the development of the framework for the National Youth Volunteering program, the national convention of Regional Youth Advisory Councils, formulations of the National Action Plan on Youth Employment and Migration, and the assessment of Local Youth Development Councils in YEM sites, among others.