The USAID Sahel Regional Office (SRO) and Office of Mauritania commissioned the USAID YouthPower Learning activity to conduct a Cross-Sectoral Youth Assessment (CSYA) for Mauritania, which was carried out from March to May 2020. Using a Positive Youth Development (PYD) lens, the CSYA sought to understand the drivers of violent extremism (VE) among youth in Mauritania and to identify strategies to prevent VE by providing positive alternatives for at-risk youth. Findings and recommendations from this assessment are based on the results of a desk review, 58 key informant interviews (KIIs) with 30 youth and 28 stakeholders, 16 peer focus group discussions (PFGDs) with a gender-balanced group of 146 youth, and two roundtables with 13 youth leaders.