Cornerstones of Youth Development

• Pursue Gender Equality and Inclusion:
  We recognize the importance of examining the roles, rights, and responsibilities of men, women, and vulnerable groups, and ensuring that our programming is inclusive and empowering for all.

• Engage Communities:
  We understand that each community has different institutional relationships, barriers, and opportunities, and we work to build strong partnerships and relationships to reach youth.

• Promote Youth Contribution:
  We believe that young people are a source of change for their own and their communities' development. We engage youth in focus groups and train them to conduct thorough analyses of their local contexts to inform our work.

• Collaborate, Learn, and Adapt:
  We are committed to monitoring, evaluating, and learning from all our work with young people, and we collaborate closely with local partner organizations to improve and adapt our programming as needed.

Core Areas for Youth Success

• Building a Foundation:
  Skills and Assets: We recognize the importance of providing comprehensive soft- and life-skill training to empower young people to act as agents of change in their own lives.

• Fostering Economic Change and Sustainability:
  We work to bridge the gap between youth and the private sector, supporting self-employed youth and young entrepreneurs to access markets, increase income, and grow revenues.

• Supporting Enabling Environments:
  We empower young people to engage in and create policies across many issues, including child marriage and protection, adolescent health, and education.

Through our work, we have empowered thousands of young people worldwide to create positive change in their communities. For example, in Afghanistan, we are paving the way for women's increased participation in decision-making roles in the government and increasing local community support for women through innovative communications campaigns.