THE United States Agency for International Development assisted 500 Filipino out-of-school youths in acquiring financial and entrepreneurial skills through a savings program.

Known as the “Saving and Internal Lending Communities,” these saving and lending groups are composed of out-of-school youth trained by USAID’s Opportunity 2.0 project and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for skills in technical-vocational and entrepreneurship.

USAID partnered with Catholic Relief Services Philippines to implement the savings and lending approach of SILC to give the youth essential skills in finance and business, the US Embassy said.

The youth work with their peers to pool their resources, save for their needs, and have a support group as they venture into small enterprises, it added.

USAID Philippines Director for Education Thomas LeBlanc said that these interventions “provide the out-of-school youth with a solid financial foundation so that they can work toward their dreams of pursuing further education, applying for jobs, or starting their own businesses.”

Jerhom Trigosa, a youth member of an SILC group in Quezon City, shared how they used their funds to invest in a small business with local urban farmers.

“We learned how to rotate and grow our savings through entrepreneurship. We took a loan from our group savings to invest and create pumpkin cookie samples. We wanted to help farmers in the community and also increase their sales as well as to promote healthier eating options,” Trigosa said.

Since January 2021, the youth groups, located in five cities, have saved P620,000. They have already loaned out P320,000 to support education, training, livelihood and other emergency needs of their fellow youth members.

To commemorate the successful pilot phase, USAID organized a learning event on May 9 to 10 in Cebu, where program implementation in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Cotabato and Quezon City was discussed.

Mayor Michael Rama, who chairs the USAID-supported Youth Development Alliance in the city, acknowledged USAID as “a longtime partner in development” and expressed gratitude for the program for “equipping the youth with the skills for us to be able to take on the challenges of the future.”