THE United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAid), recently announced new grants worth over P20 million ($370,000) for Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) working on innovative programs to improve the lives of Filipino out-of-school youth.

USAid Mission Director Ryan Washburn said the grants were the 'O2 GAIN Grants,' which would address local development priorities for out-of-school youth, and the 'O2-ASPIRE Grants,' which would support partnerships between Philippine and US HEIs on out-of-school youth advancement.