Adolescent and youth reproductive health (AYRH) programs using a PYD approach can provide youth with the motivation and confidence needed to use skills related to communication, negotiation, and decision-making to improve family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) outcomes. Five soft skills that have the most evidence for successful for reproductive health include the intrapersonal skills of self-control, positive self-concept, higher order thinking skills, communication skills, and goal orientation. However, little is known about how the core components of PYD programs intersect with AYRH programming, the effect of timing of delivery, and the mechanisms through which specific program elements affect AYRH. Intentional efforts are needed to design PYD programs in AYRH to address these questions.



This handout provides illustrative activities that can help the design and implementation of PYD programs in AYRH. The example activities focus on AYRH programming with a cross-sectoral lens and are organized by seven features of PYD recognized as essential for strong youth-focused programming. These features are grounded in the literature, particularly the work of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, and are tailored for the context of low- and middle-income countries. The PYD features are linked to the PYD framework that can be used for measuring PYD outcomes. Furthermore, recognizing the importance of the environment in which young people live, activity examples are mapped to a socio-ecological model to inspire ideas on how to engage key people and structures in a young person’s life. The illustrative activities are intended to provide ideas on ways to incorporate a strong PYD approach in AYRH programming