CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--The members of the Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance (OSYDA) of Cagayan de Oro City took an oath during a courtesy call to City Mayor Rolando A. Uy, March 21.

OSYDA is a group made up of different local offices, national government agencies, youth groups, and the private sector. It is set up to be a mechanism that decides on priority interventions that address the challenges and critical constraints on the path to youth development that was envisioned.

This made it possible for different local and national organizations that help out-of-school youth in the city with education, jobs, skills training, ways to make a living, and starting their own businesses to work together smoothly. USAID Opportunity 2.0 provided funding for the activities during its initial operations.

City Mayor Rolando A. Uy said that he was surprised to know that a complete group was ready and able to help the out-of-school youth in the city.

"Wala ko mag-expect nga ing-ani ang mahitabo, nga tanan mga ahensya sa national government nga naghatag importansya sa out-of-school youth. Abi ko sa lokal lang, pero gipangandaman ug gipreparahan gyud nga everything nga kinahanglanon sa out-of-school youth, ug [kun] adunay ikatabang sa national government sa mga out-of-school youth, naa na ni karon," the mayor said.

(I did not expect that this would happen—collaboration among local and national government to aid the needs of our out-of-school youth. I thought it was only done by the local government. As we can see, everything is well prepared; if there are existing services of the national government, they are already available for the out-of-school youth)

He also hopes that these efforts will be continued and further strengthened because they are very important to the government and society. 

Uy recently released Executive Order 035 Series of 2023 entitled, "An order creating and re-organizing the Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance (OSYDA) to implement the City’s out-of-school youth development programs of Cagayan de Oro, appointing members thereof, and other purposes," which OSYDA takes pride in as this is to realize the shared vision of giving second chance opportunities for the OSYs in the city.

The EO supported City Ordinance 14329-2022, which institutionalized the Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance.

OSYDA Co-Chairperson Councilor John Michael L. Seno said he is happy that the alliance has finally and formally met the city mayor.

"Nalipay kaayo ko kay una sa tanan, ang tumong ug tinguha sa atong halandong mayor, nag-coincide pud sa tumong ug tinguha sa atong Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance. Mao nga mapabati sa atung mga kabatan-onan nga ang ang gobyerno, duol sa kabatan-onan ug ang kabatan-onan duol sa gobyerno," Seno said.

(I was really happy because, first of all, the goals of our dear mayor coincide with the goals of our Out-of-School Youth Development Alliance, which is to make the youth feel that they are close to the government and that the government is close to the people)

Right after the courtesy call to the Cagayan de Oro City mayor, OSYDA discussed recent updates on the programs of the alliance at its 14th Quarterly Meeting. (IJBD/PIA-10)