Importance Of Civic Engagement

Civic engagement encompasses a wide range of activities cutting across the social, political, economic, cultural and religious spheres. Despite the different forms and modalities civic engagement activities may take, their ultimate goal is to improve the collective well being of members of a community, region or nation, and not to promote a particular religious ideology or political party. Some forms of civic engagement may aim to create political change or to generate economic benefits - with the overarching goal of improving the community, rather than for personal gain. In other words, civic engagement does primarily aim at benefiting the individual who is civilly engaged, although the individual and his/her family may benefit directly or

Civic engagement is one of the key components for positive youth development and the successful transition to adulthood. It allows young people to “practice” and exercise citizenship, develop life skills, and enhance their chances of employment and learning outcomes. At-risk young people can also become re-engaged in society through these types of activities. Beyond their positive impacts on participants, youth civic engagement programs can significantly impact communities, increase their social capital, decrease violence, providing social services, and meeting overall community development needs (UNICEF, 2008). In a regional study conducted by innovations in civic participation of East Asia and Pacific Regional Office (UNICEF, 2008), they found out that Philippines clearly stands out in the East Asia and Pacific region because this country offers the most diverse and rich in opportunities for the youth civic engagement. The Philippine government has several policies that support youth civic engagement, as stated in the Youth in Nation Building Act of 1995, as well as institutional mechanisms to implement these

They should be included in decision-making processes, particularly on issues that affect their lives directly, as well as on broader issues that affect their communities (Walker & et. al., 2014) The participation of the youth highly depends on the availability of entry points into the processes of governance such as the. Sangguniang Kabataan. Simply put, these spaces may be either ‘invited’ or ‘created’, as well as formal or informal. These distinctions refer to the level of ownership in participatory governance on the one hand, and a more structured versus unstructured approach on the other. Despite the different ways in which young people’s participation in governance processes occurs, such initiatives can achieve positive results if their actions and external support recognize the relative advantages and disadvantages of ‘invited’ versus ‘created’ spaces, as well as pathways between the two