Globe, Caritas PH provide education and livelihood support to marginalized communities

To help address gaps in education and livelihood across the country, Globe extended seed funding together with digital tools, and skills training for 500 disadvantaged youth across the country through its partnership with Caritas Philippines.

The support is aimed at improving student performance and instilling micro-entrepreneurship skills among junior and senior high school students in 10 communities considered priority areas of Pilipinas Kontra Gutom and where Caritas Philippines dioceses have available community partners.

These are located in:

• Mt. Province, Quezon, and Camarines Sur in Luzon;
• Capiz and Negros Oriental in Visayas; and
• Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and 2 communities in Cotabato in Mindanao

Globe’s support is coursed through Caritas Philippine’s Alay Kapwa Educational Assistance program and Self Help Groups (SHeG) program.

The Alay Kapwa Educational Assistance program intends to increase the percentage of graduates from poor communities by helping academically challenged youth to graduate from junior and senior high school through accompaniment and tutorial services. Selected students will also receive devices plus initial data packages for use in distance learning. They will also be given access to Globe’s Digital Thumbprint Program workshops to increase awareness and deepen their understanding of digital citizenship and cybersafety. 

Likewise, Globe provides the beneficiaries with necessary funding and skills training support via SHeG. The community association channels small regular savings contributions to create a micro-lending business among members. The program includes capacity building in terms of leadership abilities, skills training in micro-entrepreneurship using digital tools, and one-time capital of P10,000 to start their own business.

“Globe continues to provide holistic interventions through multi-sectoral partnerships.  We would like to contribute to an inclusive recovery from this pandemic by providing access to relevant tools, skills training, and ways to enable the disadvantaged sector so they can benefit from the gains of a digital economy,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Chief Sustainability Officer and SVP for Corporate Communications.

As the country experiences high rates of unemployment, students and parents alike are more anxious about life after graduation. Addressing both education and livelihood needs enable members of these communities to have a long-term and sustainable approach in fighting poverty through supporting their education and preparing them to be part of our economy through livelihood capacity-building. 

“Our commitment has always been to support the marginalized communities’ social transformation. The pandemic has posed greater challenges to our brothers and sisters which left them struggling to acquire quality education and decent livelihood. With this, we are intensifying our efforts to help the most vulnerable communities by providing holistic interventions that can help them thrive despite these challenging times.” said Fr. Tony Labiao, Jr., Executive Secretary, Caritas Philippines.

As the back-to-school season rolls around, instead of gearing for in-school classes, students maintain class instruction at home through distance learning due to the health crisis.

However, even before the pandemic,  three different multi-country assessments spearheaded by the World Bank (WB) presented poor learning results among students in the Philippines, with more than 80% of them falling below minimum levels of proficiency expected for the respective grades.

Along with education, employment and livelihood are among the sectors most affected by the current situation. The latest Labor Force Survey of the Philippine Statistics Office pegged the country’s unemployment rate in June 2021 at 7.7%, with the first half of the year averaging at 8.1%.

The lack of livelihood affects hunger incidence especially in low-income families. The latest Social Weather Stations survey conducted last June 2021 shows that 13.6% or an estimated 3.4 million families experienced involuntary hunger – hunger due to lack of food to eat – at least once in the past three months.

The company strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly UN SDG No. 4 on the provision of quality education and UN SDG No. 8 to ensure decent work and sustainable economic growth. Globe is committed to upholding the United Nations Global Compact principles and contribution to 10 UN SDGs. 

To know more about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.