BANGSAMORO YOUTH VOLUNTEER PROGRAMME (BYVP)

RATIONALE

Volunteerism is a powerful mechanism to engage people, especially those left

furthest behind, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. When people
volunteer, they connect with others and foster a sense of purpose. This is according
to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on International Volunteer
Day 2019.

In the transition period of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

(BARMM), the Government of the Day is focused on building a new bureaucracy that
is reflective of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people through meaningful
legislation and initiatives. They also acknowledge the importance of bringing in the
youth’s energy and idealism in this process; youth as a generation raised in the age
of technology.

Interim Chief Minister believes that the Bangsamoro Youth Transition Priority
Agenda (BYTPA) will bring in more youth to the fold and invite them to get involved
in the programs and initiatives conducted, not just by the Bangsamoro Youth
Commission (BYC) but the whole of the Bangsamoro Government as well.

BYC believes that it is important to formulate its youth development agenda to

respond to the peculiar social context, considerations and conditions, and the
pertinent needs and challenges confronting the three age categories and three major
ethnicities of the BARMM youth. The multi-ethnic youth and their families live in a
complex social setting where many communities suffer from chronic poverty, armed
conflict, family feud, and natural disasters. This condition takes place in a vast
geographic area of varying terrains with difficulties in transportation, communication,
basic health, and other social services.

The basis in the formulation of BYTPA includes BARMM’s 12-point agenda which
was developed by the BTA through the Bangsamoro Planning and Development
Authority (BPDA) formerly known as the Regional Planning and Development Office
(RPDO); Bangsamoro Youth Development Agenda (BYDA) in 2019; and results of
community consultations conducted throughout the region. It also adheres to the
vision, mission, and framework of the National Youth Commission’s (NYC) medium-
term Philippine Youth Development Plan (PYDP).

In Active Citizenship as part of Priority Center Agenda for youth participation and
development, the BARMM youth shall participate in community development and
nation-building through active, meaningful, sustainable, productive, and patriotic
engagement in civil society, social mobilization, volunteerism (indicating social
awareness and socio-civic mindedness), and values formation (such as having
concern for others and being socially responsible) to improve the plight of the youth.

In achieving this priority center, the BYC partnered with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) to foster a more active participation of the youth in

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the Bangsamoro through the Bangsamoro Youth Volunteer Program (BYVP). In the
initial discussion between the BYC and UNDP, the BYVP highlights Moral
Governance, inclusivity, conflict sensitivity, and data-driven as the principles of youth
volunteerism. This is also to deepen the sense of volunteerism among Bangsamoro
youth, develop the core group of Bangsamoro Volunteers, and active engagement.
For the effective implementation of the volunteer program, the Manual of Operation
shall be crafted and will serve as a guide to both implementers, partner
organizations, and volunteers.

OBJECTIVES

The formulation of BYVP Manual of Operations aims to:

1. Gather inputs in crafting the values or principles, framework, vision, mission,

and goals of the BYVP
2. Conduct consultations with various individuals, groups, and stakeholders on
inputs related to volunteering
3. Analyze and formulate the BYVP Manual of Operations
4. Present the draft manual to BYC and UNDP and make revisions based on
comments and inputs

METHODOLOGY

Through a series of consultation processes and desk reviews, this document will be
crafted to improve the volunteering practice of the Bangsamoro youth as Youth,
Peace, and Security (YPS) assets for peace and development in the region. The
details are presented in the work plan (see page 4).

The Bangsamoro Youth Volunteer Core Development Framework is hereby

proposed in the crafting of the BYVP Manual of Operations.

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VOLUNTEER - The BYVP positions the volunteers at the center to emphasize their
primary role as enablers and force-multipliers in shaping the whole of the
Bangsamoro. In this framework, volunteers are envisioned as proactive agents of
peace, development and social transformation.

PRINCIPLES - The Bangsamoro upholds moral governance as the overarching

strategy and direction of all development initiatives in the region. It emanates from
the Bangsamoro youth volunteer’s willingness to serve in accordance with the will of
God. In full support to the whole-of-society approach, the principle of inclusivity is
adopted to provide a safe environment - free from discrimination. It shall foster
respect for diversity of ethnicity, gender, belief and culture. Conflict-sensitivity
ensures that the positive impacts of youth volunteerism are optimized while adverse
effects in the form of gaps and challenges are mitigated if not addressed. To solidify
its foundations needed for policy development and implementation, the program
shall be data-driven. This principle also affirms the commitment to a more
sustainable program implementation aimed at continual growth and improvement.

COMPETENCIES - As volunteers, they are equipped with the necessary skills

through capacity-building trainings. Further, the mentoring aspect of the program
shall ensure that the volunteers are guided towards a more productive and impactful
contributions. Moreover, the experience from community exposure reinforces their
holistic understanding of the community context and how a volunteer could truly
respond to the latter’s valuable needs.

SERVICE – The efforts and contributions of the Bangsamoro youth volunteers shall
offer innovations to the existing systems and mechanisms of both the public and
private sectors. In dialogue with the decision-makers, the youth volunteers shall
complement the former’s leadership in order to arrive at favorable solutions that will
further the success of program-implementation across various levels. In the
volunteers’ unending pursuit for social transformation, they shall serve as the
extension of the development partners by upholding the latter’s ideals and
aspirations vis-à-vis the principles and vision of the Bangsamoro.

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WORK PLAN

Below are the details of tasks and outputs:

Task Activity Output

Preparatory Work Kick-off meeting with UNDP Outline and timeline of Operations
and BYC Manual formulation for the BYVP
presented and agreed
Meeting with TWG and BYC

Workplan for the crafting of BYVP

Manual of Operations presented

Set expectations and targets

Consultation with key Tools preparation and Assessment tools and outline of
stakeholders for needs reproduction questions set
assessment
Communication preparations Communication letters delivered

Meetings with key stakeholders set

Conduct consultation with key

stakeholders for needs
assessment

Consulted and gathered data from

BARMM ministries
KII with BARMM Ministries
Identified gaps and challenges on
BYVP implementation

Consulted and gathered data from

KII with 2 LGUs
selected LGUs in Maguindanao

KII with Madaris Volunteer

Consulted and gathered data from
Program of ADDU and
Madaris Volunteer Program and
Philippine National Volunteer
PNVSCA
Service Coordinating Agency

Consolidation of assessment
Data consolidated and analyzed
forms and analysis

Desk review of
Conduct table research and Document review and table research
reference documents on
review of reference on youth conducted on youth volunteer
youth volunteer
volunteer programs programs
programs

Write-up of the BYVP TWG Workshop on BYVP Workshop with TWG conducted
Operations Manual

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 Formulation
Operations Manual Drafting of BYVP Operations
BYVP Operations Manual drafted
Manual

Presentation of the draft Present the draft manual to

manual to BYC and BYC and UNDP
UNDP and revisions Draft manual presented and revised
based on comments
and inputs Revised the draft based on
comments and inputs Operations manual handed over to
BYC and UNDP

Hand-over of manual

PROPOSED OUTLINE OF THE MANUAL OF OPERATIONS

I. About the BYVP Manual of Operations

II. Preliminaries
a) Message from the Chief Minister
b) Message from BYC Chairperson
c) Message from Development Partners
d) Dua for Volunteerism
e) Acknowledgement
f) Table of Contents
g) List of Tables
h) List of Figures
i) Glossary of Terms
j) Acronyms
III. Global Sphere of Volunteerism
IV. Volunteerism in the Philippines
V. Bangsamoro Volunteers: who are they?
VI. Principles of Implementation
VII. The framework of the Volunteer Program
VIII. Guidelines Involving Individual Volunteers
a) Planning Design
b) Recruitment Processes
c) Benefits of the Volunteers
d) Deployment Arrangement
e) Capacity development
f) Mentoring Sessions
g) Monitoring and Evaluation
Journal Submission
Mid-term review
Post-engagement evaluation
Learning documentation
h) Volunteer Management
Volunteers in the communities
Volunteers in government institutions
Volunteers in CSOs

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 i) Safety and Security
Data privacy
Risk assessment and management
Health protocols
Security protocols
j) Reporting Processes
Reflection / feedback sessions
Dialogues with the volunteers and partner organizations
Grievance policy
k) Exit and Post Engagement

IX. Partner Organizations and Deployment

X. References
XI. Appendices
XII. About the Cover

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