PARTNERSHIP AMIDST PANDEMIC: LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND

By: Maria Sofia del Fonso National Secretariat - OSYAF and Marianne Sigue 2020 National Chairman for UN Sustainable Development Goals

Since the beginning of the quarantine in March, young Filipino leaders from various youth sectors have begun to step up to work towards a more unified society that can work together to bring about change amidst this crisis. Although projects like non-government organizations, webinars, and outreaches have been quite evident prior to the pandemic, these past five months have really seen some of the biggest and most impactful youth-led initiatives.

The Online SDG Youth Action Forum (OSYAF) was born and founded by young individuals namely; Mark Jacinto, Mirus Ponon, Reynard Francisco including our 2020 National Director for UNSDG, Marianne Sigue. It became a platform to solidify the youth’s engagement to work for the attainment of the United Nations’ SDGs and their 2030 Agenda. Shortly after several runs of OSYAF, they decided to create the Online Filipino Youth Action Summit (OFYAS) which was held last May 8-10. This was created through the partnership of Youth Advocates for the Philippines, P4SSitON and RLAF Training Group, together with JCI Philippines. The event gained over 4000 registrants and welcomed over 1000 viewers through Zoom and Facebook Live in every session. The summit’s theme focused on “Filipino Youth Action in COVID-19”, and amplified the importance of involving the youth in contributing to the COVID-19 response. The participants learned and heard from speakers in the environment sectors, business sectors, and even those working in youth organizations. These speakers did not only emphasize taking action in the present pandemic, but also encouraged sustaining and further elevating youth action coming into the “new normal”.

So what’s next after the Summit?

The organizing team decided to attend the Virtual Summit 2020 organized by The Global Changemakers, an international youth organization that supports youth in creating positive change towards more inclusive, fair and sustainable communities through skills development, capacity building, mentoring and grants.

The GCM Team taps the OSYAF Team and conducted Online GCMx Philippines (or GCMx OFYAS) last May 29-30. The 2-day FREE online event targeted 30 selected Filipino youths aged 15-30 and aimed to introduce the SDGs, Global Changemakers, design thinking, and develop innovative solutions and ideas for their respective target communities.

The Team then again decided to make another initiative, the Online Filipino Youth Action Conference that was held last June 12-14. Out of 1000+ registrants from all over the Philippines, only 100 delegates were accepted. 20 young leaders

were chosen for each pillar of the Sustainable Development Goals: People, Prosperity, Planet, Peace, and Partnerships.

The conference was created as a follow-up event for OFYAS, but now more focused on equipping its participants with the needed knowledge and skills to be able to effectively respond to the pandemic and the “new normal”. The conference turned the ideas and concepts learned from OFYAS into more concrete plans and actions expected to be implemented in the future. It also further incorporated the significance and relevance of the SDGs to the plans created during the conference.

Being the prime movers of youth led initiatives, JCI and YAP continued their partnership and celebrated International Youth Day 2020 (“Youth Engagement for Global Action”) with a first ever 24 hour online conference called ARCHIPELAGO Rising along side with the ASEAN Youth Organization, United Nations Major Group of Children & Youth and other organizations.

#Archipelago2020 aims to understand the significance of the Filipino Youth in achieving nation-building thus engaging for global action. The event was graced by the Vice President of the Philippines Leni Robredo, 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray, and 2020 Miss Philippines Earth Roxie Baeyens. The participants were also empowered by The Outstanding Young Men Awardees: Samira Gutoc (2001), Hidilyn Diaz (2016), Jaton Zulueta (2018) Rodne Galicha (2018) and Aisa Mijeno (2019). Despite the periods of anxiety and worry that this pandemic has brought upon us, these past few months have also become an opportunity for young leaders, together with organizations such as JCI Philippines, to collaborate and partner in solidarity to further empower the Filipino youth during this time of distress.

These times have become great times of initiative and volunteerism, and the youth are now more involved like never before. The means and convenience created by technology has also led to the birth of the biggest and most historic youth-led conferences, events, and projects that will never be forgotten as time goes by.

To this day, the number of young Filipino leaders who start to become more committed to nation-building continues to rise. The pandemic continues to bring people together- though different advocacies, passions, and backgrounds-to work for one prosperous and flourishing Philippines.•