Projects in the Philippines

Education

Peace Corps Volunteers in the Education sector work closely with school principals, Filipino teachers, learners and the community. They co-teach English subjects, and in many instances, other subjects using English as a medium of instruction, such as world culture, literature, speech, writing, research, science, and mathematics.

Outside the regular curriculum, Education Volunteers support student learning and community access to education and resources by working closely with the school in identifying needs and implementing priority programs and activities, including remedial reading, English clubs, leadership training, learning camps, journalism, sports camps, school plays, materials development, library development, and teacher training.

Education Volunteers engage teachers, students, and the larger school community in the goals of working collaboratively with teachers in an atmosphere of mutual learning, supporting student learning and achievement, and increasing involvement of the community in projects that support the teaching and learning process.

Youth in Development

Peace Corps Volunteers in the Youth sector serve as youth development facilitators, coaches, and mentors for Filipino children and youth. Under the Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Program, Volunteers work with vulnerable youth and communities across the Philippines. These include children in conflict with the law, victims of abuse, abandoned children, and teenage mothers, among others.

CYF Volunteers work closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in implementing the national government’s flagship program on poverty alleviation, known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) through facilitating youth development sessions for the high-school-aged beneficiaries of the program. Volunteers also work in DSWD-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) serving vulnerable children and youth; they take on assignments with government youth groups such as the Pag-Asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP) for organized out-of-school youth; the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), which is the elected local youth council; and other NGOs serving at-risk youth.

Volunteers help facilitate sessions on life skills, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, financial literacy and employability skills training, and civic education and community engagement/volunteerism for youth. They also work alongside service providers to promote positive approaches to youth development.

Environment

Coastal Resource Management (CRM) is the environmental program of Peace Corps Philippines. CRM Volunteers provide technical assistance to local government units (LGUs) to assist institutions, communities, and individuals in managing coastal resources. Volunteers assist specifically in the development and implementation of the CRM plan, including the establishment and management of marine protected areas (MPAs), participatory coastal resource assessment, biophysical monitoring of MPAs, database establishment, and formulation of appropriate policies and guidelines. In addition, CRM Volunteers also aid in conducting environmental education at primary and secondary schools.

Peace Corps Response

Peace Corps Response Volunteers serve for seven to 12 months on more specialized assignments requested by partners. They are highly skilled and support national and local government agencies and NGOs in meeting short-term technical assistance needs. Their aim is to increase organizational competence through various capacity-building activities. They support Peace Corps Philippines’ core strategic sectors of programming, including cross-cutting areas like disaster risk reduction and management and environmental education.

Virtual Service Pilot

The Virtual Service Pilot is an innovative service model launched in 2020 to help meet the evolving needs of host country partners and expand opportunities for Peace Corps participation through virtual engagement. Participants donate between 5 to 15 hours each week and provide expertise on six-month virtual assignments, both synchronously and asynchronously. The VSP complements the work of two-year and Response Volunteers and allows the Peace Corps to engage with partners on shorter-term projects that can be completed remotely or in areas off-limits to in-person Volunteers. In the Philippines, Participants provide virtual support to partners in the following program areas: education, environment, child and youth development, and disaster risk reduction and management.