Youth Participation and Engagement

This will ensure that all of the “right” questions are being asked during all phases of the project. This includes using participatory research methods like Photovoice and engaging youth as interviewers, advocates, champions and critical stakeholders.

Accountability is the vital connection between policy on paper and policy in practice- it leverages civic engagement to ensure that human rights are translated into the betterment of youth's health and well-being.

Accountability—particularly social accountability—can be empowering for youth, as it can ensure that programs for youth residing in urban environments are responsive to their needs and realities and that services remain of a high quality.

Accountability happens at various levels, from individual service providers and hospitals to national health systems and legal frameworks. Citizen participation is not just the purview of social accountability; rather, the active engagement of young people is vital for any and all accountability mechanisms to function properly. Social accountability refers to a variety of activities that citizens—including youth—and civil society organizations (CSOs) can use to hold those in authority to account. In the context of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), social accountability has also been referred to as a “set of tools citizens can use to influence the quality of service delivery by holding providers to account” (Evidence Project, 2014).

TCI‘s Francophone West Africa Hub works with Young Transformational Leaders (in French, Jeunes Leaders Transformationnels) to mobilize and monitor resources, adapt services to be youth-friendly, ensure youth participation in civil processes related to their interests, and raise awareness among youth. This approach provides an excellent example of youth engagement with local government in order to foster social accountability, institutionalize meaningful participation, build youth capacity to advocate for reproductive health needs, and ultimately act as agents of change by increasing access to reproductive health information and services. 

Ensure that resources necessary to support participation are in place, including buy-in at the organizational level, available mentors, compensation, pathways for continued opportunity, and space for youth-led efforts. Enable youth-serving institutions to document and share their stories, create working groups to provide guidance to the rest of the field, and support training programs for youth. Support the creation and sustainability of youth-participation platforms (institutional board quotas, national youth councils, independent youth commissioners) at all levels of government. These platforms should include a diverse group of youth, who should have a seat at the table where decisions are being made.

TCI’s Nigeria Hub embeds Life Planning for Adolescents and Youth (LPAY) Ambassadors  into governance and community structures at the State and local government area (LGA) levels to ensure that youth reproductive health needs are prioritized and implemented within the broader RH program. With ongoing coaching support provided by TCI, LPAY ambassadors are able to elevate youth SRH and development issues at the community, state, and national levels and help youth advocate for their own health and wellbeing and for that of others. They work closely with TCI State teams, which allows them to not only grow their networks and build their skills, but position themselves as resources for the state and other key actors in achieving AYSRH programs. Not only do they participate in the State Technical Working Group on Adolescent and Young People’s Health and Development (STWGAYHD), but the leadership team is mandated to have a youth seat, thus institutionalizing meaningful youth participation. 

Measuring youth engagement is inherently challenging; according to YouthPower, whose guide on youth engagement and measurement indicators informs this section, it is still at a nascent stage. Indicators are best sorted into three levels: youth, program/organization, and enabling environment. At the youth level, it is important to include measurements based on data from youth themselves around their experience of connectedness, mentors, authentic decision-making, and adult-youth partnerships. To measure programs/organizations, Youth Power proposes indicators to measure institutional commitment and capacity. To assess enabling environment, use indicators to study laws/policies and community recognition. As TCI advances its work in youth engagement across all four Hubs, this information will be updated with our specific indicators and early evidence.

This is an important step in ensuring the efficacy of a program, but also in advancing the field of youth engagement (YIELD, 2018).