Youth development researchers and practitioners recognize the fundamental importance of engaging youth as full partners in planning and implementing policy and programming at all levels.  In recent consultations, USAID representatives identified youth participation as a key guiding principle within the draft USAID Youth Policy.  However, in a results-based environment, in which donors and implementers must be accountable for concrete outcomes and cost-effective interventions, to what extent can practitioners and managers legitimately engage youth and empower them to give real direction to programming?

Representatives from USAID’s youth development policy workgroup, youth development program implementers, and a youth representative will speak about successes, challenges, and strategies for involving young people, including at-risk and marginalized youth, substantively in the design and implementation of youth-serving programs.

Speakers: 

Jennifer Watts, Youth Policy Planning Team, U.S. Agency for International Development 

Maria Andrawis, Program Coordinator, MENA, International Youth Foundation (IYF)

Denis Rogotkin, Chairman, Union of Children and Youth Organizations, Karalia Oblast, Russian Federation

Kursten Pickup, Refugee Youth Project, Baltimore

International Health and Nutrition Workgroup Planning Meeting

When: Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 12:00pm-1:30pm

Where: Chemonics International, 1717 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

Food Security and Agriculture Workgroup Planning Meeting

January 31, 2012

How Cities Can Attract Private Investment

When: Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Where: International Resources Group, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C.

What's New in Online Sources of Information on International Relations

When: January 12, 2012, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Where: National Endowment for Democracy, Multi-Media Conference Room, 1025 F Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, D.C.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, the SID-Washington Monitoring & Evaluation Workgroup, in conjunction with the International Development Effectiveness Alliance (IDEA), held an event entitled "Crisis Environments," the third in a series on Effective Team-Building for International Development Programs. 

The facilitator, Eric Wolterstorff of The Wolterstorff Group addressed the effects of stress, internal and external, on team dynamics during a crisis. He discussed various ways individuals in a team react and behave in crisis environments under mounting pressure and stress. He suggested various ways managers and team members can deal with individuals in each stress state.