US-backed NGO recruits Zamboanga City youth for skills training program

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — A NGO with support from the US is recruiting out-of-school youths in the region for a skills training. 

YouthWorks PH, a workforce development partnership between the United States Agency for International Development and the Philippine Business for Education, aims to enlist around 500 youth in Zamboanga City for training in food processing and in operating heavy equipment.

YouthWorks PH has partnered with technical vocational institutes and local companies in the city for the recruitment drive at KCC Mall de Zamboanga.

Around 45 training positions were opened by YouthWorks PH partners Permex Producer & Exporter Corp., Southeast Asian Canning Corp. and NY Marine Resources.

The trainees will undergo in-school training at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Regional Training Center and Advancetech International Manpower Training Center before learning on the job in YouthWorks PH partner training institutions.

"In the Zamboanga Peninsula, around three in 10 youth are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)," said YouthWorks PH chief of party Karol Mark Yee.

Yee said YouthWorks PH is taking part in the broader effort to solve address youth unemployment the region by providing life skills and work-based training to the less fortunate youth in the city.

YouthWorks PH has so far held recruitment drives in Cagayan de Oro, Quezon City, Makati City and in Cebu. Recruitment will continue in Iloilo City and General Santos City in the coming months.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority shows that 27% of urban youth in the Philippines fall into the NEET category.

Figures for the Zamboanga Peninsula are much higher than the national rate, with 34% of urban youth NEET and 33.8% of rural youth NEET.

The agriculture and fisheries sector accounts for 45% of the employment in the region.