28. Many have witnessed how the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted the youth’s employment, education, and training. A study by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2021, titled “The Impact of COVID-19 on Opportunities for Out-of-School Youth in the Philippines,” shows that the percentage of out-of-school youth (OSY) has increased significantly during the pandemic, from 16.9% in January 2020 to 25.2% in April 2020.71 Moreover, the report states that “as many as three million Filipinos, ages 16-24, are not in school, not gainfully employed and have not finished college or post-secondary education, with the females comprising the majority of the figure at 63%.”72 The report observes that the trend toward OSY correlates with poverty as more than half of the three million OSY belong to the bottom 30% economically, based on per capita income.73 It then highlights that “not only is the lack of opportunity for OSY a problem that impacts the entire Filipino population, but it worsens the challenges faced by two already disadvantaged groups: women and those living at or below poverty level.”74 29. By conducting two analyses of online media sources — one for October 2019 to mid-March 2020 and another from mid-March 2020 to July 2020 —to assess the potential differences in the OSY employment topic during COVID-19, the report also observes that positive sentiment from online OSY-related news stories fell from 90% to 68% during the given period.75 These results are attributed to rising uncertainties from the pandemic, fear of unemployment, and the threat of youth recruitment by extremist groups.76 The same result has also been observed in the positive sentiments from social media after COVID-19 struck, which significantly dropped from 63% to 11% due to the increase in youth unemployment, higher risk of school dropouts, child labor, and sexual exploitation, as well as a key youth employability program being put on hold.77 30. Further, a 2021 study on the mental health of children in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic found factors that add burden to the mental wellbeing of children including fear and anxiety of contracting the virus, the suspension of physical classes, the disruption of regular daily routine, a decrease of social support from school peers collectively, and the shift to online classes.78 Moreover, it notes that “excessive use of these technologies has been associated with developmental delays and has resulted in sleep schedule disruptions,” which is aggravated by the strict implementation of the confinement of children at home.79 Children living with preexisting mental health concerns and those living in cramped households and communities face worse circumstances.80 Additionally, research by Phinma Education network noted that college students, 71 USAID, EDC & Accenture, The Impact of COVID-19 on Opportunities for Out-of-School Youth in the Philippines, An Opportunity 2.0 Research Report, (2021), available at https://opportunity.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/USAID-EDCAccenture-COVID-19-Impact-OSY-Philippines_v2021-11-08-Final-1.pdf (last accessed June 21, 2022). 72 Id. at 4 73 Id. 74 Id. 75 Id. at 5 76 Id. 77 Id. 78 Grace Zurielle C. Malolos, et al. Mental health and well-being of children in the Philippine setting during the COVID-19 pandemic, 11, Health Promotion Perspectives, 267–270 (2021), available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8501475/ (last accessed June 21, 2022). 79 Id. at 268. 80 Id. 21