A cover for YouthPower Newsletter Issue 18, July 2019. On the cover group of youths are posing for a picture holding their certificates alongside other organizers and mentors.

Welcome!

YouthPower has had a busy few months, and there is more to come as we gear up for International Youth Day 2019! In this issue we highlight several new resources for youth program professionals, including:

  • Results of YouthPower Learning’s Liberia Cross-Sectoral Youth Assessment
  • A new report on the Youth Cohort Study on USAID-West Bank and Gaza's Partnerships with Youth Activity
  • A story about young Kenyan entrepreneurs who found success with business training and better access to financial capital

YouthPower Learning continues to host webinars and events. Most recently, our Cross-Sectoral Skills Community of Practice hosted an in-person meeting in Washington, D.C. to share learnings from cross-sectoral impact among programs; the event was webcast for those who could not join in person. Other webinars have focused on the topics of life skills for youth, a new youth programming assessment tool, and integrated population, health, and environment projects.  We were also excited to host our first YouthLead webinar! Stay tuned for more of these in the coming weeks, and for a special  webinar commemorating the International Youth Day. You can access the presentations, discussions, and webinar recordings via the links in this newsletter and share them with your networks. 

Visit Youthpower.org to access many more resources and events that can help you improve your youth programming!

- The YouthPower Learning Team

NEW YOUTHPOWER RESOURCES AND EVENTS

Can Life Skills Be Measured? Lessons Learned from a Seven-Country Piloting Process

YouthPower Learning hosted a webinar with Room to Read, which discussed the Girl’s Education Program and their work in eight low- and lower-middle income countries in Asia and Africa. At the core of the program is a life skills curriculum that seeks to equip participants with social and emotional competencies. The presenters discussed two complementary strategies for measuring the effectiveness of the curriculum, as well as its evolution over time and the life skills framework and curriculum used in the modern program.

Access the webinar recording and resources.

Youth Programming Assessment Tool: Ensuring High-Quality Youth Programming and Institutionalizing Positive Youth Development

YouthPower Learning hosted a webinar with FHI 360 to introduce the Youth Programming Assessment Tool (YPAT), which provides youth-serving organizations with concrete steps and examples for how to improve their programming based on the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach.  FHI 360’s YPAT, the first such tool designed for developing countries, was created after reviewing PYD evidence and existing tools and incorporating stakeholder feedback.

Access the webinar recording and related resources.

Young People, Health, and the Planet: Empowering Youth Through Integrated Development

YouthPower Learning hosted a webinar with the Population Reference Bureau to discuss how integrated population, health, and environment (PHE) projects applying a community-based development approach can help youth in rural communities meet these needs. Using the Health of People and Environment in the Lake Victoria Basin (HoPE-LVB) project as an example, the webinar described how PHE projects contribute to positive youth development. 

Access the webinar recording and resources.

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 25, 2019: YouthLead Webinar: Implementing Integrated Mental Health Youth Programs
July 31, 2019: YouthLead Webinar: The Time is Now: Applying a Mental Health Lens to Youth-Focused Programming
August 1, 2019: The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth
August 8-10, 2019: The 24th Session of the Youth Assembly
August 9, 2019: Banyan Global's International Youth Day Panel Discussion
August 12, 2019: International Youth Day
August 19-20, 2019: Global Citizen Summit (GCS) 2019
August 26-29, 2019: The 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference
September 4-5, 2019: The 7th International Conference on Sustainable Development
September 10, 2019: YouthPower Learning Webinar: Supporting Young Women Through Demand-Driven and Agile Programming
September 12, 2019: YouthPower Learning Webinar: Strengthening the Weak Links: Tools to Enhance the Quality and Impact of Community-Based Programming
October 1-4, 2019: Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit 

AROUND THE WORLD WITH YOUTHPOWER

Training Turns Around Fortunes for West Pokot Youth Group 

Tired of job hunting, a group of young people in West Pokot, Kenya explored a new path to empowerment—creating job opportunities for themselves. Meet Chepareria Butchers Self Group, a leading distributor of goat meat in Chepareria, West Pokot. The first setback in their new venture was raising capital— most banks turned down their loan request, but a local bank embraced them with a loan and financial training.  The group is not only generating profits to benefit its members, but the community as well— many youth work in its seven butcheries in the area.

It all started with the individual collection of funds that led to the opening of the first two butcheries. “What started like a toy idea was real,” Raymond recalls. “We had to beef up our supplies, hence the need to [secure] financial capital.”  Since their earlier application was rejected, the group sought interventions from USAID’s Kenya Youth Employment and Skills (K-YES) program that works in the area.  “They convened a business training for us that proved useful on how we could package and position ourselves as a credible entity,” Raymond reveals.

After the training, the team successfully applied for a loan from KCB Bank that enabled business expansion. What started as an idea has turned into serious business with a monthly turnover of KES 600,000 ($6000). Raymond credits the business training as a catalyst for success. “It was an eye opener, it changed the way banks view our creditworthiness. Despite having dropped out of school, we are now viewed as an entity with requisite knowledge and skills,” he notes. While access to financial capital hinders the progress of many start-ups, the experience of the Chepareria Group shows that sometimes knowledge on how to maximize access to available financial opportunities is crucial. 

The USAID-funded Kenya Youth Employment and Skills program seeks to improve livelihoods of young people through acquisition of skills and linkage to job opportunities. Since inception four years ago, the program has empowered 41,000 youth with jobs in nine counties in the country with West Pokot accounting for 5% of those youth. Learn more.

Contact: Silvano Ateka: sateka@rti.org

Building the Next Generation of El Salvador's IT Workforce

To boost youth employment opportunities in El Salvador, USAID Bridges to Employment offers training to youth from the country’s highest-crime municipalities to give them the skills they need to enter the high-growth information technology (IT) sector. On June 6, 2019, 56 youth received diplomas, as well as industry certifications from the Cámara Salvadoreña de Tecnologías de Información (CasaTIC), for their completion of computer programming and software development training through project grantee Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO).

These youth are the first from UNIVO to complete three levels of industry-recognized trainings using curricula designed through collaboration between USAID Bridges to Employment and CasaTIC. Through the project’s holistic approach, the youth not only received technical training in one of four specializations, but also gained valuable hands-on experience through internships and built critical life skills, such as innovation, teamwork, and communication.

At the graduation ceremony, one student shared how the training changed his life for the better, thanking USAID, UNIVO, and his instructors for helping open doors to exciting job opportunities in El Salvador. He stressed the importance of the life skills training he and his classmates received, noting that the competencies and the confidence they developed will be key factors in their future success.

Through this work, USAID Bridges to Employment is helping vulnerable youth get their start in a high-growth sector that often offers higher than average wages. With these promising opportunities, vulnerable youth are provided positive alternatives to migration, and a chance to build a future in their home country. Read more.

Contact: Caterina Valero: cvalero@puentesempleo.com

Youth Cohort Study of USAID-West Bank and Gaza's Partnerships with Youth Activity Releases Endline Report

The Youth Cohort Study of the USAID/West Bank and Gaza’s Partnerships with Youth (PWY) Activity has recently released its endline report, which presents findings from the endline data collection for the 18-month study of youth 15-29 years old living in the West Bank who have interacted with USAID-supported Youth Development Resource Centers (YDRC) in numerous locations around the West Bank. The project examines factors that contribute to participants' changes in employment, income, health, and attitudes toward violence. Access the report.

Contact: Andrew Epstein: aepstein@socialimpact.com 

New on the PYD Learning Agenda

The PYD Learning Agenda prioritizes five themes to serve as anchors, guiding future research on PYD programs in low- and middle-income countries: understanding how PYD achieves impact, cross-sectoral impact, measurement of PYD constructs, PYD for marginalized or vulnerable populations, and youth engagement in PYD programs. Check out the latest resources under the first theme, understanding how PYD achieves impact:

Mentoring Interventions and the Impact of Protective Assets on the Reproductive Health of Adolescent Girls and Young Women
Gender Differences in the Effects of Vocational Training: Constrains on Women and Drop-Out Behavior
Developmental Assets and Sexual and Reproductive Health among 10 to 14 Year Olds in Uganda

These are just a few items available from our growing collection of useful resources. We are adding new resources to the Learning Agenda frequently, so we encourage you to explore often and see what’s new!

Each of us has an exciting opportunity to contribute to our understanding of PYD and close gaps in the evidence outlined in the PYD Learning Agenda. We encourage anyone who has related learnings and evidence from their work to submit their resources and help advance the field of PYD. Please send your contributions via email to info@youthpower.org.

NEW RESOURCES ON YOUTHPOWER.ORG

YouthPower Learning Resources

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL)

Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance

Economic Growth, Education, and Environment

 Gender

 Health

 Agriculture

Find more resources and events at YouthPower.org.

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