Positive Pathways Activity Quarterly and Annual Report FY2021 Q4 – July 1 to September 30, 2021 FY2021 Annual – October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021

Funded by the United States Agency for International Development Mission in Jamaica (USAID/Jamaica) and implemented by Democracy International (DI), the activity strengthens the capacity of parents and communities to leverage economic and social resources to prevent youth violence. Through a community-driven approach, Positive Pathways establishes pathway programs to support youth at risk of involvement in crime and violence. The activity uses an evidence-based, learning-focused approach to ensure interventions respond to each target community's individual needs and existing resilience capacities. A behavioral insights lens is applied to maximize impact, looking at the ways incentives and cognitive biases affect program outcomes and adapting programming accordingly. The theory of change is that if parents, caretakers, and youth develop individual psychosocial strength, constructive skills, and optimism for a better future, and if civil society organizations, the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), the private sector, and other stakeholders improve their resource and service coordination, then youth and families will improve their resilience and be better equipped to prevent crime and violence. The Positive Pathways Activity has two interrelated objectives: 1) strengthening parent and family social dynamics, emotional resilience, and economic opportunities; and 2) strengthening youth emotional resilience, prosocial skills, financial inclusion, and livelihood opportunities. These goals are underpinned by a crosscutting effort to improve collaboration across communities and stakeholders to sustain networks that prevent violence. Despite working under strict Government of Jamaica (GOH) COVID-19 restrictions, the Positive Pathways team successfully launched the activity, hired and trained local staff, completed business and banking registration processes, conducted a stakeholder stocktaking exercise, selected and gained approval for target communities and beneficiaries, established relationships with political and community leaders, developed and received approval for its grants manual, and released five requests for applications (RFAs) opening opportunities for community-based organizations in target areas. The team also conducted in-person and virtual training workshops in fundamental topics such as parenting, sport for development (S4D), social and behavioral science (SBS), and positive youth development (PYD). A new initiative using the positive deviance approach was introduced to address youth violence, and the year concluded with family-based assets training workshops for persons in the target communities. The activity has established relationships with political and community leaders in each of the target communities, including Kingston & St. Andrew, St. James, St. Catherine, and Clarendon. The team has also developed and received approval for its grants manual and released five requests for applications (RFAs) opening opportunities for community-based organizations in target areas. In-person and virtual training workshops have been conducted in fundamental topics such as parenting, sport for development (S4D), social and behavioral science (SBS), and positive youth development (PYD). A new initiative using the positive deviance approach has been introduced to address youth violence, and family-based assets training workshops have been conducted for persons in the target communities. The Positive Pathways Activity has made significant progress in its first year, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team has established a strong foundation for the activity, and progress has been made towards achieving the two interrelated objectives. The activity continues to work towards improving collaboration across communities and stakeholders to sustain networks that prevent violence.