Youth engagement in implementation

Implementation refers to the delivery of development interventions through government, civil society or other partners. Young people have an important role to play in the implementation of development programmes and initiatives. The roles young people can play include: acting as peer educators in areas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, citizenship and democracy, and designing programmes. Taking up these roles can also dramatically improve their own lives, for example through developing skills to increase employability.

How can donor agencies help?

Donor agencies can support youth-focused implementation in a number of ways:

1. Forming and strengthening groups and coalitions, in preparation for actions of increasing scale;
2. Being informed of the problems young people face at the local level;
3. Directing funding towards youth-led implementation;
4. Providing mechanisms to encourage/support youth-led/youth-focused organisations to gain funding.

Added value of working with young people

Young people’s input can improve programme delivery by:

• Increasing the effectiveness of communication strategies with target peer groups (see case study 15 on voter education) and hard-to-reach groups;
• Creating a more accurate picture of current issues, such as local market demands (see case study 11 on displaced youth);
• Building the next generation of decision-makers through actively learning about development processes;
• Engaging young people who are often more flexible and less fixed in their ideas, reinvigorating policies and procedures;
• Establishing a pool of willing volunteers, who are often adaptable and have the ability to work in rural or remote areas.