Youth-led Qualitative Research to Inform Programming: An Approach for Youth-led Rapid Assessments 
Rachel Surkin 
Organization: IREX, Global Communities IDIQ partner

 
Many youth projects employ youth-led or participatory youth assessments to inform project planning. While youth engagement in program design is in line with best practices in positive youth development (PYD), it can be difficult to adhere to tight program timelines and donor expectations for program outcomes while ensuring authentic youth engagement. This example of a data-intensive youth-led rapid assessment process demonstrates the results of a rigorous qualitative data collection and analysis process conducted both by and for youth for a USAID-funded program. As we found, the results of a well-facilitated process met the timeline and donor expectation while simultaneously achieving the following: genuinely charting the course for a long-term program; building lasting stakeholder buy-in to the project; and building key soft skills, including higher-order research, analysis, communication, public speaking, and teamwork skills in participating youth.

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