The Manila Times reported on April 19, 2021 that over 200 youth leaders took part in a peacebuilding training in Zamboanga City on March 14 and 17. This training was formed under the Extremely Together (ET) Philippines-Panaghiusa program funded by the European Union (EU) and led by the Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF) and Philippines-based non-profit organization KRIS.
Said training imparted to the youth leaders valuable lessons on the history of violent extremism in the Philippines; preventing violent extremism; developing solutions towards peace, and conceptualizing and managing projects under the initiative.
Ymari Pascua, the Project Lead of ET Philippines shared “Taking inspiration from the former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan who believed in the power of young people and who started the Extremely Together movement, we trained these youth from Zamboanga, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan so they can work together and take the lead in promoting peace.”
Following the sessions, the youth groups presented their proposals for promoting peace in their own communities, with six groups selected during the two events slated to receive P30,000 each as a seed grant.
We at Mustaqim are proud of all the efforts and achievements of our youth leaders in achieving peace in our country!
