Community Baseline Report: YouthPOWER

The program's objective was to establish a baseline from which to evaluate its impact when the project ends. The Community Baseline Survey was conducted to collect and analyze data related to project indicators, providing a snapshot of the current status of the YP program activities. The survey targeted 60 communities in 12 governorates, with a sample size of 5716 youth aged 10-29. The sampling frame was determined based on proportions stratified sampling method, considering high school dropout rates, Syrian refugee concentrations, and regions of extreme poverty. Data was collected through tablets and processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS) and Microsoft PowerBI. The baseline study revealed that the current level of civic engagement among youth in Jordan was moderate to low, with a significant proportion of youth not engaged in volunteering work or community institutions. The awareness scale around the use of existing programs and positive opportunities showed a moderate mean of 3.32, with Maan youth reporting the highest mean and Mafraq youth showing the lowest. Among those aware of youth services, 48% stated that the services were either bad, acceptable, or average due to perceived shortcomings in activities, staff, and facilities. The survey also collected data on demographics, educational level, and voluntarism/civic engagement. The results showed that 52.4% of respondents were females, and 47.6% were males, with an average age of 19 years. The majority of respondents (91.5%) were Jordanians, followed by Syrians (5.6%), Palestinians (1.7%), and other nationalities (0.8%). In terms of educational level, just over half of the respondents were currently enrolled in an educational institution, with 42% reporting that they were enrolled in the past. Regarding voluntarism/civic engagement, 2888 respondents reported that they had not volunteered at all in the past, while 1632 said that they were not volunteering now but had volunteered before. In contrast, 904 respondents were currently volunteering, with 638 highlighting that they were volunteering in their communities, 52 reporting that they volunteered outside their communities, and 214 saying that they volunteered in both.