City to ink MOA with POPCOM, DOH, Zuellig to reduce early pregnancies among youth

THE city government of Cagayan de Oro will collaborate with the Commission on Population and Development – Region 10 (POPCOM-10), Department of Health-Center for Health Department Northern Mindanao (DOH-CHDNM 10), and with the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), to reduce incidence of pregnancies among adolescents and youth in the city, through the strengthened leadership of local government unit.

This, after the 19th City Council during its regular session presided over by Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin V. Uy enacted an ordinance authorizing City Mayor Oscar Moreno to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) with the concerned government agencies for the purpose.

Mayor Moreno informed the legislative body that the parties’ endeavor to engage in collaborative mechanism and learning relationship to attain common objectives of The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in the LGU.

He said TCI advocates for the lifesaving reproductive health and family planning information and services, including adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH), to underserved communities in urban areas.

Under the MOA, POPCOM-10, as the main implementing agency, shall provide technical assistance in establishing and analyzing database to understand the AYSRH situation in the city for the development and adoption of relevant tools and approaches, among others.

DOH-CHDNM 10 shall provide guidance to the city in the delivery of unbiased and quality AYSRH services as part of the TCI approaches.

Meanwhile, ZFF, in coordination with DOH-CHDNM 10, shall deliver the training, coaching, and mentoring modules and programs for the city and barangay teams based on the latter’s agreed implementation design.

For its part, the city shall, among others, mobilize, monitor, manage and utilize funds for the program and the TCI high impact approaches, and provide necessary reports to ZFF such as budget and expenditure reports and other relevant information.

The legislation was sponsored by the committees on health and health insurance and on laws and rules respectively chaired by Councilors Maria Lourdes S. Gaane and Ian Mark Q. Nacaya.