YDEMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS

YOUTH IN DEVELOPMENTPeace Corps Volunteers who serve in the Youth in Development (YD) sector engage youth by working on awareness projects such as HIV/AIDS education, gender issues, environmental awareness, sports programs, and more.

WHY YD IS IMPORTANT

An unprecedented youth bulge of over 1.8 billion youth between the ages of 10 and 24 poses both a challenge and an opportunity. More than 200 million youth live on less than $1 per day; over 260 million are not attending school, and over 71 million remain unemployed globally. Engaging youth, fostering agency, and building critical life and leadership skills significantly strengthens long-term health, education, economic and community engagement outcomes.

WHERE YD VOLUNTEERS WORK

917 YD Volunteers (13% of all Peace Corps Volunteers) currently serve in 13 countries:

6%THE

CARIBBEAN9%

CENTRAL AMERICA& MEXICO

30%NORTH AFRICA& MIDDLE EAST

10%PACIFICISLANDS

11%SOUTH

AMERICA

11%AFRICA

10%

ASIA12%

EASTERN EUROPE& CENTRAL ASIA

I really feel like I can be a leader in my community and make a change. I never thought I was good at school or that I could do things like become a teacher or start a business. But now I feel like I should go out and try a lot of different things and that I will be successful. It makes me feel really good about myself to have other girls my age ask me for advice.

AYESHA, YOUTH CLUB LEADER, BOTSWANA

Peace Corps countries with YD projects:• Armenia

• Botswana

• Costa Rica

• Dominican Republic

• Ecuador

• Eswatini

• Guatemala

• Kyrgyz Republic

• Morocco

• Peru

• Philippines

• Thailand

• Ukraine

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WHAT YD VOLUNTEERS DO

YD Volunteers support youth in their transition to becoming healthy, productive, civically engaged adults by:

• Co-facilitating youth clubs focused on building life, leadership, and employability-related skills

• Mentoring youth in support of life, leadership, and employability-related skills

• Facilitating youth’s participation in volunteer or service learning in their school or community

• Co-teaching or supporting opportunities for youth to learn life and employability-related skills in a school or other instructional setting

OUR IMPACT

In Fiscal Year 2018:

• YD PCVs co-facilitated over 5,000 youth clubs, reaching over 51,000 youth, including over 31,000 girls and young women, with mentoring activities aimed at develoing a wide range of skills and promoting leadership potential.

• YD PCVs reached over 40,000 youth, including close to 23,000 girls and young women, with mentoring activities aimed at building life skills and fostering their sense of agency.

• YD PCVs facilitated or co-facilitated over 3,500 training activities for developing livelihood (employment, entrepreneurship, financial literacy) skills and strengthening participation in economic life that reached over 80,000 youth.

ABOUT THE PEACE CORPSThe Peace Corps sends Americans with a passion for service abroad on behalf of the United States to work with communities and create lasting change. Volunteers develop sustainable solutions to address challenges in education, health, community economic development, agriculture, environment, and youth development. Through their Peace Corps experience, Volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a lifelong commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today’s global economy. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 230,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide.

PEACE CORPSPaul D. Coverdell Peace

Corps Headquarters1111 20th Street NW

Washington, DC 20526

toll–free 855.855.1961main 202.692.1200

Lily AsratProgramming Supervisory

Team Leadlasrat@peacecorps.gov

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