The Evolution of Positive Youth Development as a Key International Development Approach

This article addresses the evolution of positive youth development (PYD) in international development and identifies the evidence on PYD in low- to middle-income countries. PYD involves giving youth opportunities for developmentally appropriate structure, emotional support, positive adult interaction, and skills development while engaging youth in making positive contributions to their communities. Given the burgeoning global youth population, it is necessary to examine the stage of adolescence and the recent efforts that have been targeted at this population. A research review examined research on youth development in the context of international development, focusing on donor policy and strategy documents. The review focused on documents published in the past 10 years by the U.S. Agency for International Development, World Bank, the U.K. Department for International Development, Germany’s Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, and the Canadian International Development Agency as a way to discuss evolutionary trends in youth development investment. The review found donors were interested in including youth in their own organizational planning and strategizing, as well as ensuring youth have a strong voice in policy and decision-making at the community and country level. Additionally, the review identified four PYD domains essential for youth development: assets, agency, contribution, and an enabling environment. Considering that in recent years many of the major donors in international development have established youth policies or strategies indicates an opportunity exists to build the practice and measurement of PYD. Moving forward on this opportunity requires educating youth-serving organizations globally on PYD strategies and building the evidence on its effects.