Youth Advocacy in Action (Spring 2023)
From Trust to Change
How YOUAccess Supports Youth-led Advocacy
Youth-led organizations are integral to improving the policy and funding environment surrounding adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and rights (AYSRHR). To that end, PAI created YOUAccess, PAI’s signature youth-focused project where we engage directly with and provide advocacy technical assistance and funding support to youth-led organizations.
PAI recognizes that governments and global initiatives are highlighting AYSRHR, but that young people and youth-led organizations are often absent from the conversations that inform commitments, policies and programs aimed at improving AYSRHR. We know lack of involvement from young people makes it more difficult to achieve the outcomes governments are trying to realize through their commitments and policy development. A key means of bridging this achievement gap is to invest in youth-led organizations and provide them with the technical assistance to influence AYSRHR policies and budgets within their own country contexts.
Youth-led organizations are well-positioned to take on this challenge. They understand firsthand the needs of these populations and the changes that are required to improve AYSRHR. However, they lack the support to meaningfully engage in existing policy and advocacy processes. PAI’s partnership model helps youth-led organizations participate in and drive policy change and is unique in that the goals and objectives are created by the partner, with support and guidance from our advocacy experts along the way.
