An Advocacy Project to fund an Education-to-Employment Project in the Philippines
I created an advocacy project, Floatees, to raise awareness and funds for the YesPinoy Foundation in the Philippines to fund their long-term Covid-19 programs. The hoodies were released on August 24 for sale, where all the profits raised will be donated to fund the Education-to-Employment program; wherein those unemployed from the entertainment industry in the Philippines are offered 5-day intensive training for skills such as safe food handling, customer service, road and safety skills, etc.
Alongside the sale of the hoodies, I wanted to educate my audience on the impact of Covid-19 on the livelihoods of many families in the Philippines via social media (Instagram and Facebook). I have created some infographics to shed light on these issues. From this research, I have learnt that the Philippines have reached record high unemployment rates in April, after just two months of lockdown. 7 in 10 workers in Metro Manila have lost their jobs, with the entertainment industry being one of the hardest hit sectors. Due to the Philippines strict lockdown regulations, unemployment rates soared to 17.7%. Therefore, I felt that tackling the unemployment issue is definitely very important, especially with a long-term, sustainable program such as this one. Even if this may be an issue faced in the Philippines, this is one that is being experienced by many individuals and countries as a whole – making it an issue of global significance.
Although this project is based in Singapore, the power of social media has allowed for the fast and efficient sharing of information worldwide. Therefore, I felt that our physical location should not have to restrict which causes we can support. This project aims to inspire the youth to be leaders of their own change and take action on causes they are passionate about – no matter how big or small.
