AT LEAST 60 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program youth leaders and beneficiaries have completed a training provided by the United States Peace Corps and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The US Embassy in the Philippines said the training aims to encourage the participants to help their peers go back to school.

“Youth leaders who are also 4Ps beneficiaries have firsthand experience in overcoming their fears and building their self-esteem, making them well-placed to support their fellow youth in coming back to school,” Marites Maristela, DSWD Field Office 3 director, said during the closing ceremony on December 3.

Peace Corps Philippines Country Director Jenner Edelman commended the youth leaders for “playing a crucial role in developing communities and inspiring out-of-school youth to believe in themselves and see education as a key pathway to achieving their dreams.”

Funded jointly with the United States Agency for International Development, the training was limited to select 4Ps youth leaders and beneficiaries due to pandemic-related restrictions, the embassy said.

The peer-training model will ultimately benefit more than 1,000 youth in Nueva Ecija province.