Asia-Pacific city mayors push for active youth participation

CATBALOGAN CITY, April 9 (PNA) – The United Cities and Local Government – Asia Pacific (UCLG-Aspac) is strongly advocating for youth participation in developing cities.

UCLG-ASPAC Secretary General Bernadia Tjandradewi said that local government units (LGUs) should value youth involvement in the planning and implementation of programs.

The official emphasized youth participation on Saturday, a day after the conclusion of the three-day UCLG-Aspac executive bureau meeting held in this city.

“We value the importance of young people because they are the ones who will decide for the future. They have to involve now and not just blame their local governments if nothing good is happening,” Tjandraderi told reporters.

The top UCLG-Aspac official said that among the ways for the youth to participate in the development of their localities is by regularly sending feedbacks.

“If the youth see their city as something they don’t look like, it is their fault because they do not participate in the development process,” Tjandraderi added.

This city hosted the UCLG-Aspac executive bureau meeting from April 5 to 7 participated by over 300 officials from 20 local government units in 19 countries from the Asia-Pacific region.

These countries are China, South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Kiribati, Salomon Island, Betio, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Catbalogan, the capital of Samar province, is the lone city member of UCLG-Aspac in Eastern Visayas and one of the few in the Philippines. It became a member in 2015.

UCLG-Aspac is the regional section of the UCLG, a worldwide association of local government organizations that dates back to 1913.

Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said that the bringing the UCLG-Aspac members to the city is a way of opening opportunity to the city.

“We have limitations and needs that we cannot do and achieve because of limited resources and capacity of the city, but because of our partners we know that creating connections can help small cities like us,” she added.

The event was themed “Kauswagan Kalibutan (progressive world): Creating Connections for Sustainable Societies.” (PNA)
ROEL T. AMAZONA & VICKY C. ARNAIZ