COTABATO CITY (December 2, 2022) –The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) collaborated with the Bureau for Foreign Technical Cooperation, the Ministry of State Secretariat, and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) to organize the Knowledge Sharing on Reproductive Health (RH), Family Welfare (FW), and Gender Mainstreaming for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in Bandung, Indonesia.
The five-day training was designed to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the Muslim religious leaders (MRLs), Muslim youth leaders, policymakers, and program implementers of the BARMM region regarding policy and programs on RH, FW and ARH, prevention of gender-based violence (GBV), child marriage and gender mainstreaming in the Islamic context.
Bangsamoro Youth Commission (BYC) Chairperson Marjanie Mimbantas Macasalong said that coming to Indonesia to experience and learn Indonesia’s success stories in population development and family planning was an eye-opener to strengthen the BYC’s mission in empowering the Bangsamoro youth.
“We have a strong influence on the youth community, and this experience served as our wake-up call to take the best in our capacity to ensure that Bangsamoro youth are provided with programs that address youth issues such as the high cases of child marriage, premarital sex and even violence against women and children,” he said.
He added that BYC sees the importance of the South-South Cooperation (SSC) framework in supporting the commitment of the Bangsamoro government to the decentralization of family planning and reproductive health program in the region.
The Knowledge Sharing Program of BARMM is designed to adapt the global training on Developing Strategic Partnerships with MRLs which will show how population and family planning policy is translated into the grassroots in the Islamic context. (BYC PR Unit/RMM)
