Linking Research and Practice for Positive Youth Development in Low and Middle Income Countries

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has made a substantial investment in Positive Youth Development (PYD) as the strategy for preventing negative outcomes and promoting positive outcomes for young people in low and middle income countries (LMIC). USAID launched its YouthPower initiative in 2015, a $447 million flagship program to support and facilitate PYD as an integrated approach to ensure the needs of youth are met in health, education, economic opportunity, participation and security. It consists of two complementary, agency-wide, global contracts to support PYD implementation and the development of PYD evidence and evaluation. YouthPower Action is dedicated to implementing evidence-based PYD practices and strengthening youth programming across USAID. YouthPower Learning leads research, evaluations, and events designed to build the evidence base for PYD strategies that work well in LMIC. It also supports the PYD Learning Network to engage the global community in advancing solutions to improve young lives. These two projects are mutually reinforcing so that evidence and evaluation provide guidance for program implementation, and implementation experiences provide opportunities for building evidence and improving learning.

The purpose of the YouthPower TED-like Talks at SPR is to engage the prevention research community in all aspects of YouthPower Learning by providing inspiration, information, and opportunities for participation. The talks kick off with an inspirational demonstration of the synergy of research and practice in a rapid PYD assessment project of a youth program in Mozambique. Additional talks will a) report on the results of a systematic meta-review of evidence that PYD programs work in LMIC, b) showcase a PYD Measurement Toolkit which provides guidance to program implementers in LMIC on how to effectively measure PYD outputs and outcomes, and c) highlight opportunities to participate in communities of practice (CoPs) supported by the YouthPower Learning Network (www.youthpower.org). Finally, the USAID Youth Coordinator will describe USAID investments in positive youth development and its vision for the future of young people in LMIC. By engaging youth, their families, communities, and governments in innovative programs, USAID seeks to build young people’s skills, assets, and competencies; foster healthy relationships; strengthen the enabling environment; and transform systems. Through this series of presentations attendees will gain a better understanding of how policy and investments by USAID through YouthPower Learning and YouthPower Action are fostering research to inform practice and practice to inform research to ultimately improve the lives of youth globally.