UP TO YOUTH ACTIVITY IN KOSOVO MOBILIZATION PLAN

The activity is implemented by Global Communities, in partnership with LINC LLC, Moonshot CVE, and local organizations Peer Education Network (PEN) and NGO LENS. The project targets youth 15 to 24 years old, with a focus on those who are vulnerable to social exclusion, including those underserved by current and past youth-focused initiatives, grappling with unaddressed stress and trauma, or vulnerable to developing risky behaviors. The project will work in nine communities, consisting of three clusters of communities, with each cluster containing one larger community and two smaller, more rural communities nearby. The project will emphasize working with marginalized youth, particularly those with extreme poverty, exposure to gender-based violence (GBV) and other violence, lack of employment, and trouble in school. The project will also make concerted efforts to reach youth with disabilities (YWD), a group that has historically been excluded from education and community-based programming. The Up to Youth activity will apply an evidence-based approach to youth learning, equipping youth with the skills they need to demonstrate agency in leading community asset mapping, analyzing data to identify youth-related challenges or stressors in their community, and working with other youth and local stakeholders to design and implement solutions such as advocacy campaigns, community projects, and social ventures. By empowering youth to use data and analysis, and to leverage and engage their support networks and government, youth will make informed, effective contributions to their communities and amplify and strengthen their voice and ability to positively affect policies and services that strengthen youth resilience. The project will be implemented through three objectives: Objective 1, Mobilize Youth to be forces for positive change; Objective 2, Develop and demonstrate life/soft skills among youth; and Objective 3, Develop, build, and support resilience partners in fostering an environment for youth to engage in a positive and meaningful way. The project will work through a mobilization phase, which will last for six months, during which time the project will further identify and confirm motivated strategic partners, select target areas, recruit youth participants, and validate and refine the theory of change and proposed interventions. The mobilization phase will involve several key activities, including post-award orientation and discussion of the inception phase workplan with USAID, project orientation and strategy workshop, staff orientation on the project, review of existing databases as part of community selection, and submission of the draft Annual Work Plan and MEL Plan. The project will also conduct a rapid assessment of the target communities, identify and select youth for the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) membership, conduct YAB orientation, and develop outreach materials for youth, community members, and institutions. The project has already completed several start-up activities, including hiring a local start-up facilitator, onboarding one Key Personnel cooperating country national (CCN), completing the contracts for two other CCN staff, identifying a replacement Objective 1 Lead, and advertising all unnamed positions. The Rapid Mobilization Team is now focusing on the initial on-the-ground administrative actions needed to get the project up and running, including hiring a local law firm, updating Global Communities' in-country registration, identifying office space, initial non-expendable equipment (NXP) procurements, onboarding named staff, and interviewing applicants for non-named positions.