The Samar provincial government and partners signed Thursday a memorandum of understanding to carry out the Expanded Youth Leadership and Governance Program (EYLGP).

Governor Sharee Ann Tan signed the memorandum with Zuellig Foundation deputy executive director Anthony Faraon together with representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Commission on Population and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, and the Department of Health.

At the signing, Tan underscored the importance of the understanding, which, she said could be the best way to address issues concerning the youth, particularly adolescent pregnancy.

The signing in Catbalogan City witnessed by Samar mayors, signifies the collective commitment and united effort to address the pressing issue to ensure that the youth of Samar have the opportunities, education, and resources they need to make an informed decision.

“This problem is so big that it cannot be solved by one agency. The best way to address this is through a collective approach,” Tan said.

“We need to acknowledge and own the problem and share it to know what agencies have the capacity to help,” she added.

The program is part of the implementation of the Joint Program on Accelerating the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in Samar, a project funded by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and United Nations agencies United Nations Population Fund, United Nations International Children’s Emergency, and World Health Organization.

KOICA and UN are currently implementing a PHP490 million four-year partnership program in Samar and Southern Leyte, as part of their support for the Philippine government’s campaign to reduce the rate of adolescent pregnancy in the country.

Based on the 2020 civil registration and vital statistics report, Samar reported 961 births among adolescent mothers, second only to Southern Leyte.

In the 2021 Field Health Service Information System, the province has also reported a low utilization rate of modern contraceptives among women ages 19 and younger.

The Zuellig Foundation has committed to implementing interventions to address the problem described by Faraon as a “social emergency.”

“This signing is a testament that if we collectively work together on the reduction of the adolescent birth rate, we would actually be able to meet our overall objective,” Faraon said.

Before the signing, Tan and Faraon went to Mercedes village in Catbalogan City and visited an adolescent mother to personally investigate and see firsthand the complexities of health inequities linked to teenage pregnancies. (PNA)