Policy Brief Faces Behind the Numbers: Stories of Struggles and Successes among Zamboanga’s Out-of-School Youth Gerald James Y Ebal, John Mayo M Enriquez, & Judith Joy V Tugade Introducon The Department of Educaon (DepEd) esmates that about 2.85 million Filipino children aged 5 to 15 years old are out of school. The number of Filipinos out-of-school drascally surges when those 15 to 24 year old OSYs are added into the equaon. The Philippine Stascs Authority (PSA) reports that one in ten or about 4 million children and youth were out-of-school in 2016. Poverty, conflict, and displacement due to conflicts appear to exacerbate the trend; as the poorest regions in the country register the highest rates of prevalence of OSCY. In the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which is home to some of the most poverty-stricken provinces in the Philippines, the prevalence rate of OSCY is highest in the country at 14.4%. 1 In the Zamboanga Peninsula, where Zamboanga City is located, the prevalence rate is 11.3%. Esmates in 2013 peg the number of OCSY in Zamboanga City to be more or less 186,000 individuals; with girls outnumbering boys about 7 to 1. 2 Out-of-School Children and Youth (OSCY) are one of the most vulnerable secons of Philippine society. OSCY oſten come from impoverished and less educated families – making them, parcularly the females, more exposed to exploitaon and harmful coping mechanisms (i.e. child labor, sex work, unwanted pregnancy, prostuon and human trafficking, a life of crime, etc). 3 In addion, there have been increasing reports of the youth, whether in-school or out-of-school, geng invited to causes espousing violent extremism, parcularly those coming from conflict-affected areas like the Zamboanga Peninsula area and neighboring ARMM. 4 It is the posion of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) to support any effort to address key issues affecng the OSCY. AdZU is aligned with UNICEF in its stance to protect and promote the rights of young Filipinos, especially those belonging to the marginalized in Zamboanga City, to survive, to thrive, and to fulfill their potenal as individuals to the benefit of a beer world. It is the intenon of this report to contribute to a deeper understanding of the situaon of the OSCY in Zamboanga City by generang informaon, guided by a qualitave research approach, that may aid policy makers and youth advocates craſt a set of informed iniaves to improve the lives of thousands of disadvantaged OSCYs. This report will feature stories of individuals, inspiring and at the same me powerful, centering on their struggles and successes as OSCYs living in the urban and rural barangays of Zamboanga City. Also included in the report are informaon and insights derived from Key Informant Interviews with pernent government agency leaders and civic organizaon advocates. 1 Philippine Statics Authority, 2013 2 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS), 2013 3 Review UNCHR’s Engagement with Displaced Youth, 2013 4 Institute for Autonomy and Governance, 2017 Page | 1