The Department of Social Welfare and Development region 7 kicked off the Youth Development Session (YDS) implementation under Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

The eight (8) pilot areas include Barili, Compostela, Liloan, Sogod, San Remigio, Tabogon towns in Cebu province, and Basay and Santa Catalina towns in Negros Oriental.

4Ps Municipal Link Julie Pyr Roble facilitates one of the sessions during the YDS kick-off activity in Compostela, Cebu.

At the launching in Compostela, Cebu, on December 3, 2021, 50 youths attended the activity and oriented the first module, the YDS Orientation.

The module has ten (10) sessions that include metamorphosis of a person, changing body, body image and healthy lifestyle, changing mind, changing emotion, expressing emotions, heart-to-heart-talk, changing roles and expectations, discovering destiny, and defining self-identity.

Representatives from the DSWD, Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), and the World Vision facilitated the YDS.

Ruby Jean Samonte, 15 years old, shared that the activity provided an avenue to discover herself and her God-given talent.

Tungod aning YDS, naka-realize ko nga sa mga challenges nga atong naagian sa kinabuhi kay makatabang kanato aron pag-diskobre sa atong kaugalingon ug unsa pa atong makaya isip ka usa ka tawo (Because of the YDS, I have realized that the challenges we face in life will help us discover ourselves and what are the things that we can do as an individual),” said Ruby Jean.

She is currently enrolled in grade 10 and planning to become a lawyer someday.

The Executive Order (EO) that mandates the implementation of YDS was also signed during the kick-off activity by Compostela Mayor Froilan Quiño and witnessed by Vice-Mayor Josephine Abing.

The YDS is a support activity for 4Ps and non-4Ps youths to achieve holistic adolescent development.

The YDS is a convergence effort led by the DSWD to junior and senior high school students to address the challenges faced by Filipino adolescents. It targets adolescent development from self to family, peers, and community.

To recall, the DSWD and other partner stakeholders like DepEd, POPCOM, DA, National Youth Commission (NYC), World Vision, and Jesus Christ the Rock of Refuge Foundation Inc. signed the resolution of the YDS implementation during the 4Ps Expanded Regional Advisory Council (ERAC). ###

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