COTABATO CITY—The Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) held Thursday, Apr. 7, its 1st Bangsamoro Youth Coordinating Council (BYCC) meeting for the year 2022 in this city.
BYC Chairperson Marjanie Macasalong, who presided over the meeting, said the meeting was aimed at reviewing the milestones of the Council in 2021 and discussing the planned youth-related programs of the council members for 2022 “to explore potential lines of collaboration.”
The meeting was attended by representatives of the 14 BYCC member ministries and agencies of the Bangsamoro Government.
The Council was established pursuant to Section 19 of the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act No. 10, which shall be the venue for coordination between the BYC and the ministries and other instrumentalities of the Bangsamoro Government in the implementation of youth-related programs.
Macasalong stressed the Council is an important step in strengthening and institutionalizing the Bangsamoro Government’s youth-related initiatives.
“We hope to create a strong platform wherein ministries that have similar [youth-related] programs can converge and unite resources and reach out to a greater number of youth beneficiaries,” he said.
The Council also serves as the mechanism for monitoring the compliance of its member ministries with the implementation of their youth-related programs and avoiding duplications among them.
Meanwhile, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) presented its research on the youth’s situation in the Bangsamoro region, which shows that young people “always” trust the BYC among other government agencies.
BYC Commissioner Nasserudin Dunding said the research’s key finding is a manifestation that the Commission is true to its commitment in mainstreaming the active and meaningful inclusion of young people.
The BYCC is composed of the following ministries and agencies: Ministry of Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG), Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE), Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE), Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism (MTIT), Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs (MIPA), Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS), Bangsamoro Women Commission (BWC), Bangsamoro Sports Commission (BSC), Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta (BDI) and Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH).
The Council holds its meeting twice a year or as often as may necessary upon the call of the Chairperson.
The BYC is an office attached to the Office of the Chief Minister mandated to serve as the primary policy-making and coordinating body of the Bangsamoro Government in all matters affecting the youth. (BYC PR Unit)
