The goal of the USAID A Ganar Alliance is to positively impact youth employment and youth engagement using sport. The program‘s expected results included:

• At least 75% of all youth who enter the program are expected to complete all A Ganar phases attesting to their competencies in teamwork, communication, discipline, respect, focus on results, and continual self-improvement
• At least 70% of graduates from the youth workforce development program will find formal employment, start a business, or return to formal education system 
• 60 development organizations implementing and sustaining the proven A Ganar sport-fordevelopment methodology in areas of their greatest need  

Attached is

• The final report for the six-year A Ganar Alliance
• The mid-term evaluation
• And two summaries of the Guatemala and Honduras end-line evaluation

Using Sport to Impact Youth Employment and Youth Engagement program under USAID cooperative agreement #RLA- A-00-09-00057-00. The report summarizes USAID A Ganar Alliance activities for both the fiscal year 2015 and for the entire agreement which took place between September 27, 2009 and September 26, 2015. Through a six-year, $8,899,467 cooperative agreement1 between USAID and Partners of the Americas, the USAID A Ganar Alliance supported youth ages 16-24 to take charge of their life and seek meaningful employment through the development of key employability skills, vocational training, and internship opportunities. A Ganar exceeded the number of youth registered (served) overall and in seven of the eight program countries. The report will also demonstrate how the program reached 99.5% of the target for youth to graduate from the comprehensive A Ganar training activities and 92% of the target for youth to achieve positive engagement (obtain employment, start a business, or return to school) within nine months of graduation. In addition, while some doubted A Ganar’s ability to achieve gender balance due to its sports-based curriculum, 53% of the participants, 55% of the graduates, and 54% of those achieving positive engagement were female. 

The Mid-Term Evaluation (als attached) showed the following results:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
USAID / Barbados and Eastern Caribbean (USAID/BEC) requested a mid-term performance evaluation of two youth programs: A Ganar and Caribbean Youth Empowerment Program. An independent external team, led by Dexis Consulting Group and Management Systems International (MSI), conducted the evaluation. The Dexis/MSI Team rolled out the evaluation via two teams: one responsible for the Eastern Caribbean’s northern countries (i.e., St. Kitts, Antigua and Dominica) and the second responsible for the southern countries (St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada). Each team also had a project emphasis as two of three countries visited corresponded to one specific project: Team 1 ~ A Ganar; Team 2 ~ CYEP. The evaluation approach was based on two arms: (1) a utilization-focused, participatory design that employed qualitative and quantitative methods to draw out perceptions corresponding to before, during and after contexts; and (2) leveraging Eastern Caribbean know-how and resources through local management, Eastern Caribbean evaluation experts, and country-based youth volunteer research teams. Across the evaluation fieldwork, the following was realized: 281 program youth surveyed; 101 nonprogram youth surveyed; 28 youth focus groups (16 A Ganar; 12 CYEP); 16 IO interviews; 26 private sector interviews (partnering companies); 15 public sector interviews; and 13 program officer interviews.  

SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS
The USAID/BEC statement of work identified five key questions to be answered through the performance evaluation. A summary of the major findings will be listed under each question as follows:

1. To what extent does participation and completion of the workforce development programs contribute to the likelihood that youth who are beneficiaries of the program will obtain and maintain jobs, return to school, start their own business or reduce risky behavior as compared to non-program participants? What are the major factors that contributed to the achievement of (or failure to achieve) these results?
 The A Ganar and CYEP Programs are seen to have the most positive effect on the self-confidence, self-awareness and outlook of graduated project youth.
 A Ganar and CYEP have a positive, yet emerging effect on life skills of participants and graduates as viewed by private sector informants.
 Program participation produces positive effects on the employment status of a select number of graduating youth. This potential effect on employment status rises when youth become graduates.
 Despite a comparison group that was older, more educated, more likely to be employed and more rigorously selected to their program, A Ganar / CYEP youth reported higher gains on the majority of workforce characteristics surveyed.

2. Does the use of sports in the A Ganar workforce development curriculum versus the non-sports CYEP program increase the retention rate, the job insertion rate, and the effectiveness of the program to teach life skills, language, math, IT, and other complimentary activities among beneficiaries of the program?
 In the Eastern Caribbean, the sports emphasis of the A Ganar curriculum does not appear to produce a stronger positive effect on retention, job insertion or the transfer of skills versus the non-sports curriculum of CYEP.
 CYEP maintains a higher retention rate range versus A Ganar. Each program’s self-reported dropout rates also point to similar trends.
 A Ganar graduates reported higher employment rates than CYEP graduates. Employment rates between A Ganar trainees and graduates showed higher increases versus the same from CYEP.
 Self-reported life skills gains of CYEP graduates and trainees are higher in nearly every characteristic, versus the self-reported gains of A Ganar graduates and trainees.

3. What are the essential components for workforce development programs to be successful? Before addressing essential elements for workforce development programs (WDP), a simple four-step strategic process was first offered up to best inform the feasibility and utility of adapting such: Step 1. (Re) Assess Youth & Market (Supply/Demand) Step 2. Develop Solid Monitoring & Evaluation Plan Step 3. Review Available Resources Step 4. Identify WDP Success Components & Tailor Informed by the above-mentioned four-step process, the following comprises a ‘toolbox’ of essential WDP components, which can be selected as deemed relevant and necessary.
 Phased, Comprehensive & Private Sector-Driven Approach to Training: WDPs should avoid focusing on program length, and instead focus on: (i) depth of curriculum; (ii) periodicity of training and complementary practice; and (iii) flexible, yet consistent, content and pedagogy.
 Multiply Practical Learning & Job Placements: Partnership strategies should be continued and enhanced through: (a) securing internship and placement opportunities via international as well as national and local partnership models; (b) establishing alliances with ‘competing programs’ incountry and broaden potential labor pool to partner companies; and (c) scaling-up entrepreneurship programs and emphasizing alliances with financial institutions.
 Staff Incentives: Incentivizing facilitators and administrative staff is important to combating challenges all WDPs face such as high turnover, teacher and participant absenteeism, and demotivated youth participants.
 Policy Focus: The evaluation views two important policy opportunities to pursue in the EC region. The first is partnering with youth-focused ministries (i.e., labor, education or youth) in order to build capacity via: strengthening internal policies or systems; enhancing capacity to better understand a certain context or issue and take action accordingly; or support strategies to develop or implement a specific policy / law. The second opportunity is seeking to validate WDP curricula and boost young people’s educational status via a nationally recognized certificate.
 Capacity Building: Although there is some overlap with the policy component, building the human and institutional capacity of organizations to support young people’s transition into the workforce is seen as critical to enable effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.
 Manage for Results: Establishing a set of causally linked outcome-level results is critical for the planning, management and reporting of any WDP program.

4. What benefits have accrued to the development of the local IOs since the introduction of the CYEP and A Ganar programs?
 Generally, A Ganar and CYEP IOs report low to moderate levels of benefits accrued since the introduction of the CYEP and A Ganar programs.
 The two areas in which benefits accrued by IOs was reported as moderate to high were: (i) partnerships ~ leveraging resources and/or services through collaborative partnerships; and (ii) employer engagement ~ engaging public/private sector employers to strengthen program activities.
 All IOs expressed desire to continue programs; however, only select IOs are seen to possess the ability to continue with aspects of their corresponding program absent financial support from POA or IYF. 

5. Are the benefits to youth serving organizations provided under the two programs sustainable?
 A Ganar IOs considered moderate
 high in organizational sustainability: Her Majesty’s Prison (Dominica); NSTP (St. Kitts & Nevis); CASMAC and Green Hill Sports & Culture (St. Vincent & Grenadines).
 CYEP IOs considered moderate
 high in organizational sustainability: GARD (Antiqua); GIDC and NEWLO (Grenada); BELfund and CARE (St. Lucia).  CYEP IOs considered moderate
high in financial sustainability: BELfund and NSDC (St. Lucia). Rapid Gender Analysis At the request of the Mission, a ‘rapid gender analysis’, in which a gender-lens was utilized to analyze all secondary and primary information collected, was conducted and yielded the following major findings:
 Within A Ganar and CYEP, there was a balance between surveyed males and females reporting status as employed.
 Both programs lack gender-specific indicators and do not appear to be disaggregating and tracking gender-specific outcomes beyond enrollment levels.
 Both programs are aware that female participants drop out due to pregnancy and/or lack of childcare options; yet, programmatic provisions made to accommodate appear to be limited to non-existent. 

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS The evaluation’s major findings consist of successes to leverage and challenges to be overcome. Appropriately, the following overarching recommendations are provided to further enhance the positive effect on the A Ganar and CYEP youth cohort:
 Tighter Targeting of Beneficiary Youth: At this stage in the life cycle of both programs, a key message of the evaluation is to emphasize quality over quantity. It is recommended that both programs work with the Mission to select a tighter age range of youth beneficiaries and a more specific educational profile.  Ramp-up Capacity Building Efforts: While both programs have different end-dates (CYEP in Dec 2013 and A Ganar in FY 2015), IO capacity building efforts should be targeted, tailored and prioritized.
 Improve Reporting & Evidence of Success: The following consist of quick-fix options to improve reporting quality of both programs: (i) identify USAID indicators and define key terms; (ii) disaggregate data by female/male; and, (iii) measure learning and behavior change.
 Develop Activity Level M&E Plans: Following the new USAID guidance, it is recommended that each program update their M&E plan in order to facilitate stronger performance monitoring efforts.
 Strengthen Programming: The following options can bolster the positive effect both programs are currently achieving: (a) implement a ‘piggyback’ approach to entrepreneurship development; and (b) deepen theoretical and practical emphasis of the life skills curriculum.
 Increase Partnerships: Moving from both programs’ strengths, A Ganar and CYEP IOs should continue developing partnerships aimed at leveraging additional resources and improving the sustainability of the programs. These partnerships include public private partnerships, intra-program country partnerships; and intra-program regional partnerships.
 Incorporate Gender into Programming: Three key recommendations should be undertaken to better integrate gender into programming and practice: (a) Inclusion of a “Gender Action Plan” in planning and reporting mechanism; (b) maintain a balance of males and females in mentor cohorts; and (c) address childcare issues among female youth.