METRO MANILA – Girl and child rights organization Plan International Pilipinas sees leadership potential in Filipino youth and is challenging incoming Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and Barangay leaders nationwide to champion health, education, gender equality, and child protection. The initiative comes ahead of the SK and Barangay elections and this year’s Linggo ng Kabataan.
In Samar, the push was most visible at SIRAK Day on August 11, where Department of Education Secretary Sonny Angara joined an estimated 1,000 youth leaders to mark the Sirak Kabataan movement’s 5th anniversary.
The gathering and other youth training initiatives highlight the youth’s enthusiasm and leadership capabilities, and the urgent barriers they’ll need to address as leaders for their peers.
One in four Filipino adolescents nationwide falls behind academically by age 18; more than 10,600 adolescent mothers were recorded in 2024, with pregnancies rising among girls under 15; child labor reached over half a million in 2025; and nearly 20% of internet-using children aged 12 to 17 have faced grave online sexual abuse and exploitation (OSAEC).
To close these gaps, Plan International Pilipinas facilitated the creation of the Girls’ Agenda, a four-point blueprint crafted by 400 girl advocates, focusing on safety, resilience in crisis, health, and education and economic empowerment. Since 2025, the organization has reached 2.83 million people, protected over 740,000 individuals through violence prevention programs, and trained more than 14,000 child protection advocates.
“The Girls’ Agenda came directly from young people, mostly girls, who told us where the gaps are,” said Twyla Raros David, Country Program Manager for Gender and Child Rights. “Training incoming SK and Barangay leaders to carry that agenda into their own communities is how we turn those numbers around, one barangay at a time.”
That vision is already being put into practice. Programs are underway across the Visayas and Mindanao, from Samar’s youth advocacy panels and peer educators to Cotabato City’s mental health initiatives under Plan International Pilipinas’ Global Youth Ambassador program. Among these are the Youth Advisory Panel, which empowers young advocates to influence community decisions; the Youth Peer Educators and Youth Reporters, who train high schoolers on OSAEC, SOGIESC, child rights, mental health, and leadership, enabling them to counsel their schoolmates; and the Girls’ Challenge Grants Group, which equips girls from vulnerable communities to design their own solutions to local problems.
These initiatives, carried out in partnership with local governments, communities, and schools, ensure that SK councils and barangay leaders are supported by trained youth voices. By equipping young advocates with skills in leadership, counseling, and community organizing, Plan International Pilipinas is ensuring young people are not just participants, but primary decision-makers.
As Linggo ng Kabataan is being celebrated across the country, Plan International Pilipinas is urging incoming SK and Barangay leaders nationwide to turn those aspirations into action by translating the Girls’ Agenda into concrete local ordinances. These efforts echo the United Nations’ 2026 International Youth Day theme, “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” underscoring how Filipino youth share the same hopes for safety, health, and opportunity no matter where they live.
