Up to Youth Quarterly Performance Report Q3 FY2021

The activity is a five-year initiative valued at $8,937,089 and implemented by Global Communities in partnership with LINC LLC, Moonshot CVE, and local organizations Peer Educators Network (PEN) and LENS. The goal of Up to Youth is to increase youth resilience to social exclusion and, consequently, violent extremism. The activity focuses on three main objectives: mobilizing youth to be positive forces for change, developing and demonstrating life/soft skills among youth, and developing, building, and supporting resilience partners in fostering an environment for youth to engage in a positive and meaningful way. The activity targets youth aged 15 to 24 years old, with a focus on marginalized youth, particularly those underserved by current and past youth-focused initiatives. Under Objective 1, the activity finalized the Social Change Fund (SCF) application guidance and held two orientation sessions with youth. Youth cohorts prepared and submitted a total of 23 SCF initiatives, and eight members of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) served on the SCF review committee and participated in 23 SCF initiative review sessions. This quarter, youth secured 8 commitment letters from public and private institutions, resulting in an estimated $8,613 in total in-kind contributions. Under Objective 2, the activity completed online meetings with 18 youth cohorts to review the results of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and identify additional training topics. The activity held two meetings to introduce youth to the YouthLead website and finished online communications trainings, followed by a public speaking contest for youth to put their new skills into practice. Up to Youth also held 21 online MEL trainings. The School of Entrepreneurship (SE) participants finished StartUp trainings and received additional support through 42 mentoring sessions. Under Objective 3, the Youth Support Networks (YSN) elected six new members to fill empty seats, completed and submitted a total of nine initiatives across the three clusters for technical review, and organized 18 YSN cluster meetings to discuss finalization and implementation of initiatives. The activity continued to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, making adjustments to staff schedules, vehicle procedures, procurement needs, and training curricula to ensure compliance with USAID guidance. While the Ministry of Health loosened prior restrictions on in-person activities, Up to Youth limited any in-person interactions to no more than 5 people and held no large-scale in-person events. The activity has made concerted efforts to reach youth with disabilities (YWD), a group that has been historically excluded from education and community-based programming. The activity emphasizes working with marginalized youth, particularly those underserved by current and past youth-focused initiatives, grappling with unaddressed stress and trauma, or vulnerable to developing risky behaviors. Vulnerability characteristics include extreme poverty, exposure to GBV and other violence, lack of employment, non-majority ethnic status, and trouble in school. The activity applies 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 priorities in their community; and working with other youth and local stakeholders to design and implement solutions such as advocacy campaigns, community initiatives, and entrepreneurship projects.