Learn > Resources > Research evidence of Youth Ready interventions in Guatemala and Ecuador

Introduction and Background

Alarming trends in youth violence and risk behaviors have resulted in a proliferation of efforts by the development community and national governments to develop youth-targeted interventions, integrating Positive Youth Development (PYD) frameworks for enhancing youth agency. In 2017, World Vision Canada (WVC) launched the Vision for Vulnerable Youth Initiative (VVYI) using a World Vision (WV) created model called Youth Ready (YR).

Research commissioned by WVC and conducted by The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Latin America in 2022–2023 examined the effectiveness of the YR intervention on youth agency, education, entrepreneurship, and employment as well as studying context-specific relevance and program practices.

Study Design and Methods

To determine the effectiveness of YR interventions, the research evaluation purposively selected Ecuador for South America and Guatemala for Central America. The research employed a quasi-experimental study in Ecuador and pre-post study in Guatemala and the intervention and comparison sites were selected based on specific criteria to ensure comparability. The research was comprised of three components: (1) Quantitative baseline and endline surveys, (2) Qualitative assessment of the YR program with strategic stakeholders using Key Informant Interviews at endline, and (3) a desk review of evaluated grey and published literature on PYD constructs, YR frameworks and models, as well as existing survey instruments. This report provides key outcome analysis summary from the research.

Conclusions

Overall, the findings demonstrated that the Youth Ready program in Guatemala and Ecuador has made significant progress in addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by the local youth. Conclusions and recommendations were drawn from the key outcomes analysis process to inform the program’s progress and to improve the YR curriculum content and implementation.