The youth plays a vital role in nation building. Ika nga ni Dr. Jose Rizal, “ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”
The Philippines is one of the few countries in the world with legalized youth representation in the government. This entity is called “Sangguniang Kabataan” (SK) or village-level youth councils.
Many challenges surround SK and this is focus of Manila Shaping Davos, who hosted an interactive panel discussion the morning of January 15, 2015 at Globe Valero Telepark.
Commissioner Perci Cendana shared in speech the reform provisions they are aiming for SK:
– improve participation by extending membership
– develop mechanisms for accountability and transparency
– enhance leadership capacities and develop responsible leaders
– be a vehicle for reform and good governance
– leading advocate for youth development in the local level
Trusting the SK & Getting Back Our Youth
The level of awareness and engagement among Filipino youth is low, that it’s on the point where its existence is questioned. Why should we have SK reform and not abolish it? Sen. Bam Aquino and Von of SK Reform Coalition gave their thoughts:
Other questions revolved around renewing trust and perception, engaging the youth in policy development and stepping up to be leaders. Dr. Cleo Calimbahin shared her international perspective, Dion Romano discussed his experience in Naga, particularly the creation of the Naga City Council for Youth Development while Farah Ghodsinia talked about her involvement with National Youth Parliament.
Technology and Bottom Up Governance
In the second interactive panel, best practices for youth governance was discussed. Comm. Perci mentioned that gamifying governance would be attractive to the youth and emphasized that tech should only be an instrument and tool for youth to act offline. Kap. Ruel of San Juan City, who was a former SK Chairman himself, reminded hackathon participants to consider tech literacy of the youth.
The facts and real life examples shared by esteemed panelists, #HackTheSK participants are now equipped in coming up with web/mobile applications that will aid the government in generating solutions for the challenges faced by the SK.
At this moment, the hackathon is on-going. Details here.
The dialogues and hackathon entries will be presented during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting next week.
Updated: 01/15/2014, 17:00
