What Does “Decolonizing Development” Mean for Youth-Focused Research and Learning?”

Watch the recording here.
 

Session Description:

Information is power. In the development world, we use research, assessments, information, data, findings, and recommendations to shape and guide many of our fundamental programmatic, policy, and resource allocation decisions. But who decides which types of research is credible? Who develops and determines research questions, who designs methodologies, and who analyzes data and determines key findings? Who owns data and information, and who can access it? 

USAID’s Youth Excel program is tasked with supporting local youth-led and youth-serving organizations to strengthen their capabilities to use research and learning so that they can strengthen development. This mandate has enabled Youth Excel’s consortium to ask ourselves challenging questions about research, data, information, and power, and to co-design an implementation research approach that transfers power to local youth-led and youth-serving organizations. In this session, you will hear from young leaders about how power differentials manifest in their day-to-day work and learn about how Youth Excel’s youth-focused research and learning approaches shift decision-making power to the leaders and organizations who are closest to the community and global problems that we face today.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Learn from young leaders about how they experience power differentials, and reflect on how power differentials manifest in our daily work as youth and adult development practitioners.
• Describe Youth Excel’s youth-focused implementation research approach and how it is different from other types of research.
• Identify ways that youth-focused implementation research can shift power to youth leaders and local development practitioners.

Moderator

Silvya Kananu

Project Lead, IREX

Presenters

Zaira Lainez

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Officer, Youth Excel, IREX

Diego Manrique

Knowledge Mobilization Officer, Youth Excel, IREX

Karen Carvajalino

Co-Founder and COO, The Biz Nation