As we look back on our efforts this year, we are proud of how YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation, in partnership with our diverse stakeholders, expanded and strengthened the capacity of our Learning Network to design and implement programs using the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach. By tapping into our youth advisory groups, engaging technical experts, and involving our Community of Practice members, we all co-created several exciting resources for youth development practitioners, researchers, and other relevant stakeholders on youth engagement, mental well-being, and, of course, PYD.
Also, in this issue, what better way to close 2023 than by learning from three young leaders who are pondering youth engagement on a global scale? Read on to see how the SDG Action Weekend and the One Young World Summit motivated youth to claim their agency and drive systematic change on a local level. We look forward to continuing to champion positive youth development in 2024.
|
|
| Around the World with YouthPower |
|
|
|
Nothing for Us Without Us: Young Leader Reflections from SDG Action Weekend
Youth have the capacity to not only change the world for the better but also to save it. I had the honor of joining hundreds of other young leaders at the SDG Action Weekend and 2023 SDG Summit on September 18-19 in New York at the United Nations building. I exited those doors with a renewed sense of responsibility and a determination to promote and facilitate positive youth engagement through action.
Convened by the President of the General Assembly, the Summit drew world leaders, young changemakers, and stakeholders from all walks of life. It also marked the halfway point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The United Nations Secretary-General, H.E. Mr. António Guterres, opened the SDG Summit with a reminder that, “The SDGs aren’t just a list of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights, and expectations of people everywhere. And they provide the surest path to living up to our obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, now in its 75th year. Yet today, only 15 percent of the targets are on track.” Read on.
|
|
|
Online Learning
Youth Grow Activity (YGA)
The Youth Grow Activity (YGA) is an innovative five-year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Q2 Impact as the leading partner. Other partners include Partners for Good, Abwab, and Spark. The project was launched in the context of youth empowerment in Jordan, emphasizing the need for positive youth development, not only for youth themselves but for society at large, to increase their meaningful participation within their local communities and the economy.
YouthLead's Learning Hub
Visit YouthLead’s Learning Hub! Contribute your own resources, give your articles and publications a higher profile, and discover best practices from changemaker peers around the world. The latest on-demand resources include recent YouthLead Ambassador webinar recordings.
Positive Peace Framework
Positive Peace is a transformational framework that draws upon the Institute for Economics and Peace's (IEP) data-driven approach to understanding conflict and peace. The IEP’s Positive Peace Academy is a free short online course that introduces this framework. Through this course, participants will discover how Positive Peace is associated with better performance on ecological sustainability, improved well-being, stronger GDP growth rates, and better business outcomes.
|
|
|
YouthLead Sends Representatives to One Young World Summit
YouthLead alumni Anxhela Bruci and Johan Sebastián Chávez Mosquera are two young leaders on a mission to change the world. These exceptional young changemakers and entrepreneurs were recently elevated to YouthLead Scholars, selected from YouthLead’s leadership programs to represent USAID at the One Young World Summit in Belfast, October 2 to 5.
The annual summit brings together the biggest and brightest young talent from around the world to work together and expand their social impact. Anxhela, a current Youth Advisory Group (YAG) member from Albania, and Johan, a YouthLead Ambassador (YLA) from Columbia, joined more than 2,000 other young leaders from 190+ countries. Over several days, delegates were counseled by influential political, business, and humanitarian leaders, such as H.M. Queen Rania of Jordan and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Read on.
|
|
| Spotlight on Relevant Resources |
|
|
Youth, Mental Health, and Gender in Focus
YouthPower.org has two timely toolkits for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence which runs from November 25 to December 10, 2023.
Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support into Youth Programming
This toolkit (available online and as a download in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish) provides strategies and tools for designing, implementing, and evaluating mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs and activities for youth in low- and middle-income countries and conflict-affected contexts. It helps you select the right tool(s) given your implementing context and project time frame, as well as the needs of the target population, which should always drive the selection of MHPSS interventions, services, and activities. Get helpful guidance, tips, and resources on where to start and how to program effectively. Access Now.
Youth and Gender Analysis Toolkit
YP2LE conducted an assessment of the most important barriers and knowledge gaps related to young women’s economic empowerment. One of the key findings was that current guidance and templates for gender- and/or youth-focused analyses for economic growth activities are insufficient to deliver the information needed to design and monitor appropriate interventions. The Youth and Gender Analysis Toolkit provides effective tips and links to tools that can be applied when carrying out gender- and/or youth-focused analysis during the start-up phases of economic growth programming targeting youth. Download Now.
|
|
|
Now Available for Replay: The Promise Awards
The Promise Awards are a youth development celebration, hosted by the World Federation of Youth Clubs (WFYC), in honor of the youth, staff, volunteers, and programs who are building strong communities and brighter futures for youth. The 2023 honorees were selected from over 50 nominees and received grants to support their continued impact. The third annual Promise Awards celebration was held on November 15. Learn more about this year’s honorees and translation viewing options.
|
|
|
World AIDS Day
December 1 is World AIDS Day, a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Over 30 percent of all new HIV infections globally are estimated to occur among youth ages 15 to 25 years. Also, increasingly, children infected at birth grow into adolescents who have to deal with their HIV-positive status. Combining the two, there are 5 million youth living with HIV globally.
Young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) are a diverse group and their experiences and challenges vary, particularly between those infected as adolescents and those who were infected as infants and have survived with the help of increasingly effective antiretroviral therapies (ART). Research suggests that young people may find it especially difficult to accept an HIV diagnosis, adhere to treatment, and use HIV prevention practices. Common challenges reported by YPLHIV include stigma, discrimination, and disclosure.
Adolescent girls and young women are disproportionately affected by HIV in sub-Saharan Africa due to a range of social and structural factors. Previous research has identified several challenges facing adolescent girls living with HIV, including ART adherence, stigma, lack of emotional support and harmful gender norms, which may impact their medical and psychosocial outcomes.
Programmatic strategies to address these concerns are expanding. Referral services and advocacy networks are developing, as well as programs that integrate youth-friendly HIV care into other care, such as family-centered care or life-skills training. However, more research is needed to better understand how to meet the medical, social, and psychological needs of YPLHIV. Learn more.
|
|
Participate in a Community of Practice!
YP2LE's Communities of Practice (CoPs) are spaces where youth and youth-serving practitioners can come together to share ideas, tools, and build and test practical resources to advance PYD through collaboration, dialogue, and collective learning. These communities are free and open to all interested youth and youth-serving practitioners. Join one (or more!) of the six active CoPs today:
Check out our upcoming CoP events and webinars.
TIPS
- Learn how to join a CoP and engage with its members.
- CoP members receive weekly notifications of ongoing activities from their registered communities. You can change the frequency of the notifications by adjusting the setting on your YouthPower.org profile.
|
|
|
MEMBER REMINDER: Make sure to prime your YouthPower.org and YouthLead.org accounts to get the most out of its features! Subscribe to receive email alerts whenever new content is posted. Simply select how often you would like to receive notifications (i.e., Daily, Weekly, or Biweekly) and we will take care of the rest! |
|
|
NEW RESOURCES ON YOUTHPOWER.ORG
Education
Entrepreneurship
Health
Youth Engagement
|
|
|
| Would you like to suggest an event or resource to add to YouthPower.org? Do you have any feedback? Send an email to comms@youthpower.org. |
|
|
|
