PYD for Marginalized or Vulnerable Populations:
How effective are tailored PYD programs at serving the needs of vulnerable or marginalized populations?
- What impact do tailored PYD programs have on reducing barriers to programming specific for this population?
- How do we work with special populations to create, design and implement programs for them?
Targeted PYD programs are critically important in addressing the unique needs of vulnerable and marginalized youth (VMY). Given the diversity of experiences of VMY, PYD programs must be responsive to their needs and focus on removing barriers. Unfortunately, there is little evidence on what programs best address the need of vulnerable and marginalized youth, and even among programs that do report impact, few have been evaluated. There have been observed improvements in knowledge, self-efficacy, self-identity, psychological health, education outcomes, social capital and inclusion, economic, entrepreneurship, and financial skills, and decreased violence in programs that undergo evaluations. While programs aligned with PYD show positive effects on vulnerable and marginalized youth, understanding their impact, cost effectiveness, and scalability is unknown. Most programs focus on AGYW, while a few focus on sexual and gender minority youth, youth with disabilities, and youth in post-conflict settings. For example, youth from crime-ridden regions face significant barriers to educational attainment and have limited economic opportunities, thus making them susceptible to engaging in crime, violence, and gangs. Hence, efforts to remove social and structural barriers require tailored approaches to effectively serve disadvantaged populations and address widespread poverty and lack of public policies that promote an enabling environment and establish community-based, community-engaged, and youth-centered programming.
Targeted PYD programs are critically important in addressing the unique needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations (VMPs). Given the diversity of experiences of VMPs, PYD programs must not only be responsive to their needs but should also focus on removing barriers. For example, youth from crime-ridden regions face significant barriers to educational attainment and have limited economic opportunities thus making them susceptible to engaging in crime, violence, and gangs. Hence, efforts to remove social and structural barriers require tailored approaches to effectively serve disadvantaged populations.
At-risk and out-of-school youth
Youth who experience unemployment feel ashamed and without hope, and they blame their employment status on a lack of appropriate skills to be competitive on the job market. Therefore, various programs focused on workforce development through technical and vocational training for vulnerable at-risk and out-of-school youth to improve their future employment prospects and economic productivity. Some of these projects also aimed to decrease violence, which contributed to social exclusion, lack of access to employment opportunities, and heightened vulnerability to exploitation. For example:
- In Mali, Education Development Center’s PAJE Nieta program engaged rural, out-of-school youth to increase their education levels, economic productivity, and civic engagement. The project evaluation results showed improved reading skills, successes in launching micro-enterprises, strengthened youth associations, and positive impacts on countering violent extremism.
- Similarly, in Nicaragua, Creative Associates’ USAID-funded Technical Vocational Education and Training Strengthening for At-Risk Youth (TVET SAY) program, worked with at-risk youth populations and youth from ethnic minorities to equip them with workforce readiness skills and soft skills needed for launching careers and sustaining employment, while steering them away from crime.
- The USAID-funded Empleando Futuros project, implemented by Banyan Global in Honduras, targeted at-risk youth from high crime areas to increase employment and income generation opportunities through skills training, mentorship, and job placement.
- Education Development Center’s Mindanao Youth for Development (MYDev) Program engaged out-of-school youth from conflict affected areas of the Mindanao region in the Philippines to strengthen their life skills and improve youth’s employment outcomes and civic engagement. The program employed a holistic approach by focusing on life, leadership, and work readiness skills as well as community development activities to foster an environment conducive for youth development.
Youth with disabilities
Youth with disabilities are often subject to discrimination and deprived of human rights afforded to their peers without disabilities. The marginalization and exclusion of youth with disabilities place them at an increased risk of social, economic, and health disparities. The additional challenges and barriers that youth with disabilities face hinders their ability to flourish and realize their full potential. When youth have a supportive family in the home environment and feel accepted with their traits and characteristics, it builds their self-efficacy to pursue personal and professional development opportunities. To overcome these barriers, programs to improve access to relevant workforce development information and training have yielded positive results. For example, the DAI’s USAID Mitra Kunci initiative in Indonesia targeted the poorest and most vulnerable Indonesian youth with disabilities by:
- providing technical expertise in soft-skills development,
- encouraging youth outreach and engagement,
- creating opportunities for youth entrepreneurship,
- supporting public-private partnership development to create an inclusive and effective workforce system, and
- providing access to employment information.
Youth in conflict and humanitarian settings
Humanitarian crises and times of unrest place vulnerable and marginalized youth at an increased risk of wide-ranging psychological, economic, and physical effects. Thus, this added layer of vulnerability underscores the need for extra precautions and special considerations to safeguard VMY and not contribute to further marginalization. For example, Mercy Corp’s Advancing Adolescents program provided psychosocial support, protection and informal learning opportunities to young Syrian refugees and Jordanian youth to ensure their safety and emotional wellbeing as well as strengthen social ties. Key elements of the program included:
- group-based skills building sessions (e.g., vocational skills, technical skills, fitness, art, and crafts) run by trained local community volunteers,
- psychosocial support counseling,
- mentoring, and
- community activities.
An evaluation of this program showed positive effects related to social cohesion and psychosocial well-being.
Damaging gender norms are common when boys, men, girls, and women, especially in rural areas, do not share power. Adolescent girls' vulnerabilities to sexual exploitation, child marriage, and gender-based violence increase significantly in conflict and humanitarian settings. These experiences can contribute to immigration, creating additional challenges for youth livelihoods as they experience increased discrimination and risk exposure while integrating into a new social setting. The International Rescue Committee’s Girl Shine resource package provides guidance and tools to design and deliver effective programming in diverse humanitarian settings. Specifically, the program model is comprised of the following components:
- safe spaces,
- life skills curriculum for group sessions,
- mentors and facilitators from the local community,
- female/male caregiver engagement, and
- community outreach.
Youth living with HIV
In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), young women and adolescent girls continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Reinforced by existing social norms and structural barriers, young women and adolescent girls face several challenges, including stigma, social exclusion, and care-seeking, which may negatively impact their psychological and medical outcomes. Young women also experience challenges related to poor access to youth-friendly family planning, reproductive health knowledge and services, support for menstrual hygiene management, and loss of education and employment opportunities due to early pregnancy. These challenges are exacerbated by the stigma related to these experiences and using services and concerns of confidentiality. Therefore, creating an enabling environment where youth do not feel supported.
- Population Council’s Link Up in Uganda implemented a tailored intervention consisting of health education sessions, counseling, and peer-support groups to educate and empower youth living with HIV to recognize their rights and feel confident in seeking health services. The evaluation findings demonstrated improved knowledge and self-efficacy among youth living with HIV as well as increasing the utilization of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and HIV services.
- An evaluation of a similar HIV-focused, multi-component intervention by Botswana Comprehensive Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children conducted by MEASURE Evaluation found that the project had a positive impact on care seeking and treatment adherence.
Common strategies for working with VMPs and communities to deliver effective programming include:
- Fostering positive environments to reduce social and structural barriers,
- Providing life skills and skill building programming,
- Promoting community-led activities, and
- Employing stakeholder engagement/collaboration.
Recent resources advancing the evidence and practice under the broad theme of vulnerable and marginalized populations can be found here.
