Our Programs & Initiatives

Youth advocates' vocational skills and economic strengthening programs are comprehensive initiatives designed to break cycles of poverty and unemployment by equipping young people, often from marginalized communities, with both market-relevant skills and the tools to achieve financial autonomy.

The overarching goal, championed by the youth advocates who design and often deliver these programs, is not merely job placement but fostering sustainable livelihoods, entrepreneurial mindsets, and the economic resilience that allows participants to build stable futures and contribute to the economic vitality of their communities.

The "Step Up 4 Adolescents SRHR Access" program is a targeted advocacy and implementation initiative focused on dramatically improving Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) for adolescents, a group often facing significant barriers to vital information and services.

Youth advocates are central to its methodology, working to dismantle stigma, influence policy, and create adolescent-friendly health environments. The program emphasizes access by establishing youth-friendly clinics and ensuring interventions are inclusive of marginalized groups such as key population youth and those in humanitarian settings.

Every Hour Matters Campaign provides a concrete example of localized, youth-led action. In Zimbabwe, YAZ implements the campaign by directly confronting the cultural and systemic barriers that delay survivors of sexual violence from accessing critical post-rape care.

Their work is multi-pronged and grounded in community engagement: they conduct intensive peer education and awareness workshops in schools, universities, and local communities to disseminate crucial information about the 72-hour window for emergency contraception and PEP. They leverage digital and traditional media to amplify the "Every Hour Matters" message nationwide, ensuring that vital information on where to seek help is accessible.

Building bridges through positive norms to address violence against children is a transformative, community-centered approach that moves beyond punitive measures to fundamentally reshape the social and cultural environment in which children live.

This strategy involves identifying and mobilizing existing protective community values—such as collective responsibility, respect for children, and non-violent conflict resolution—and intentionally strengthening them to displace harmful norms that tacitly accept or perpetuate violence. By shifting the focus from reacting to incidents to proactively cultivating a protective, nurturing ecosystem of positive norms, this approach seeks to prevent violence at its roots.

The Break the Outbreak program is a dynamic, youth-led public health initiative where young advocates are mobilized as critical frontline communicators and community mobilizers to combat infectious disease outbreaks, such as COVID-19, cholera, or Ebola.

Recognizing that traditional top-down messaging often fails to reach or resonate with all communities, especially youth, this program trains and deploys young people to "break" the chain of transmission by bridging critical information gaps. By leveraging their trusted positions within their social networks and communities, youth advocates in this program do not just disseminate information—they model preventative behaviors, foster community accountability, and turn their generation into a powerful force for collective action.

The DREAMS Program (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) is a major global partnership, notably funded by PEPFAR, with youth advocacy woven into its core as both a methodology and an outcome.

Youth advocates within DREAMS work to create a protective environment by addressing the root causes of vulnerability. Their roles are multifaceted: they serve as peer mentors and educators, delivering crucial information on HIV prevention, sexual health, and rights in safe, girl-only spaces; they champion economic strengthening by facilitating access to financial literacy training, savings clubs, and vocational skills; and they lead community mobilization efforts to shift harmful gender norms and reduce stigma.

The Safe Schools for a Healthier Population Initiative is a youth advocate-led program that strategically positions schools as foundational hubs for fostering comprehensive health, safety, and well-being for both students and the wider community.

Recognizing that a healthy, safe, and supportive learning environment is a critical social determinant of long-term population health, youth advocates work to transform schools into protective ecosystems. Their efforts are holistic and action-oriented: they establish peer-led clubs and committees to promote mental health awareness, prevent bullying and gender-based violence, and provide peer counseling; they advocate for and help implement comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curricula that are age-appropriate and scientifically accurate.

24/7 confidential support, counseling, and referrals via helpline and digital channels to keep young people safe and connected to care.

The Youth Helpline Empowering Lives Project, implemented by Youth Advocates Zimbabwe (YA) in Seke District, has delivered measurable improvements in adolescent health and well-being throughout the years. With support from Egmont Trust, the project provided youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, HIV prevention, psychosocial support, gender norms transformation, and economic empowerment opportunities. The project demonstrated resilience, adaptability, and strong performance across service delivery, mentorship, and community engagement.

The "Ending Child Marriages; Transforming Futures" program led by youth advocates is a powerful, multi-faceted movement that tackles the root causes of child marriage while empowering girls to reclaim their futures.

Youth advocates, often survivors or peers from affected communities, drive change through direct action and systemic advocacy. Their work includes community mobilization and dialogue, where they engage parents, traditional leaders, and religious figures in conversations to shift deep-seated norms that prioritize early marriage over education, using data and personal testimonies to highlight the harms.