Public safe spaces where youth can share ideas, learn new skills, and have constructive use of their non-school or work time. Youth centers provide programming, activities, and human resources to support young people engaging with each other in activities including education, sports and leisure, and civic engagement. These are physical or virtual spaces where young people can gather, and they may be standalone spaces or part of other spaces/organizations such as a larger community center or public library. Youth clubs may be based in a youth center, but youth center activities can include other approaches such as leadership development, peer mentoring, etc. Youth centers have been ineffective in achieving health outcomes but can be connected with health facilities to augment other services and interventions (see this study for more information). Attention must be paid to gender equity and girls’ safety at youth centers, which are often dominated by older boys.

Program Examples

Africa: DREAMS (Multi-Country), Building the Potential of Youth (Ethiopia)

Europe and Eurasia: European Democracy Youth Network (EDYN), Youth Ethnic Integration  (North Macedonia), UNITY (Ukraine), Waste Management Technologies in Regions Program (Georgia), Societal Transformation and Reconciliation (STaR) (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

LAC: Puentes  (Guatemala), DREAMS (Haití)

MENA: Partnerships with Youth (West Bank and Gaza), USAID YouthPower  (Jordan), Promoting Civic Education Among Youth in North Sinai  (Egypt)

Sample Indicators

Standard Indicators

Applicability depends on structure and content of center programming

Custom (Illustrative) Indicators 

# or % of youth with improved [specific type] skills; Increased # of services/facilities with youth-responsive characteristics; Increase in youth-responsive characteristics for a single service/facility; # or % of youth with increased feeling of safety in their environment; # or % of youth with increased sense of membership in [school, community]