Ben Madilynn
THE Davao City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), through its Child and Youth Development Program, continues its efforts to provide quality services and implement development programs for the Dabawenyo youth.
To further encourage youth involvement in the city’s programs and activities for youth development, the CSWDO conducted a two-day training for social workers and youth leaders on enhanced population awareness and family life orientation (Epaflo) on October 3-4.
Sharlene Blas Villaluz, focal person of the CSWDO’s Child and Youth Development Program, said in an interview with the City Information Office (CIO) that the training on Epaflo aims to equip youth leaders from the city’s 15 administrative districts with sufficient knowledge on population awareness.
Given during the training were lectures on Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-Aids) awareness, reproductive health, and self-awareness.
Population awareness-related and self-development workshops were also conducted.
The importance of body autonomy and bodily integrity as well as the correlation of population growth and national development were also emphasized in the lectures.
Villaluz said it is important to properly cascade this information to the youth leaders as existing issues of the youth sector today include teenage pregnancy, reproductive health concerns, and mental health.
“Dugay na gyud ni siya nga issue ang teenage pregnancy, concerns sa reproductive health ug mental health. Pinaagi ani nga training, maila-ila nila ilahang kaugalingon ug makabalo sila unsaon pag-handle ani nga mga issue (Concerns on mental health, reproductive health, and teenage pregnancy are existing issues in the community. Through this program, they [youth leaders] will be able to improve their self-awareness and learn how to handle these issues),” she explained.
Villaluz added that the Epaflo training is an integral part of implementing the Unlad Kabataan Program of the DSWD as the youth leaders, along with the district social workers, are the frontliners in streamlining the youth development programs of the city as well as population awareness to the barangay level.
“Importante kaayo ni siya kay ang atoang mga social workers ug youth leaders man ang mu-cascade aning population awareness sa community. Dili nato sila pwede ipalangoy dayon sa komunindad kung wala sila’y enough knowledge ani (This is important because our social workers and youth leaders are the ones who are going to cascade population awareness in the community. We can’t just send them out to conduct activities without providing them with sufficient knowledge on the subject),” she said.
In the training, the importance of the role of youth leaders as peer trainers in the community was also highlighted as the majority of the youth sector are more comfortable communicating with people their age.
Dabawenyo youth are encouraged to participate in the city’s activities and programs for child and youth development in their barangays. CIO
