Tool Overview

The 10 Vital Signs should be thought of as a checklist; they are a tool for designing or assessing workforce and youth employment programs that set out to prepare individuals for productive economic participation in a country, region, or community. This version of the 10 Vital Signs was developed between FHI360 and USAID to provide a systemic approach to designing, monitoring and evaluating workforce development projects.

This brief explains each vital sign, gives an example of its specific application and provides the full 10 vital signs that can act as a ‘check-list’ to analyze the health of a new or existing WFD program. Each vital sign is in the form of a question and we have provided additional suggested questions to further explore each topic. This allows for a process of inquiry into why a particular vital sign might be missing or insufficiently developed, and what could be done to strengthen it.