Abstract
Effective international youth development programs go beyond single-issue interventions—they leverage the entire organization and project life cycle to advance positive youth outcomes. This paper illustrates how positive youth development (PYD) approaches can be adapted for and applied by organizations to promote positive outcomes for young people and communities globally. The article provides 6 insights from the International Youth Foundation’s (IYF) application of PYD principles across diverse youth development programs. Moreover, the authors present practical insights into what is required by practitioners, regardless of geographic boundaries, to effectively engage with, support, and meet the needs of youth and young adults whom they serve. Finally, the article argues that practitioners and funders need to find new ways to measure and value PYD investments and that funders need to make PYD integral across their funding streams.
Highlights
Youth development practitioners, community leaders, and researchers alike recognize that an asset-based approach to youth development programming improves outcomes for youth1 and their communities (Sanders et al, 2015; Ward et al, n.d.)
Originating in the United States, positive youth development (PYD) has been adopted by the international development community over the past decade as programs have built a body of implementation-based evidence demonstrating the cross-sectoral benefits of integrating the asset-based principles of PYD in international programming (Alvarado et al, 2017)
This paper examines these issues by sharing six insights from the International Youth Foundation’s (IYF) application of PYD principles across diverse international youth development programs
Summary
Community leaders, and researchers alike recognize that an asset-based approach to youth development programming improves outcomes for youth and their communities (Sanders et al, 2015; Ward et al, n.d.). Originating in the United States, positive youth development (PYD) has been adopted by the international development community over the past decade as programs have built a body of implementation-based evidence demonstrating the cross-sectoral benefits of integrating the asset-based principles of PYD in international programming (Alvarado et al, 2017). Building on the research and evidence base and informed by work in the United States, the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) has become a government leader in taking PYD abroad and applying the principles in diverse international contexts. How will the program build young people’s skills? What are the different types of skills necessary for success? How will staff and/or trainer practices allow young people to develop those skills? What is the institutional context for skill development? Where and how will the skills be applied?
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