YouthMap is a multi-country initiative that aims to better understand and address the challenges facing Africa’s young people. Through YouthMap and its Innovation Fund, the International Youth Foundation (IYF) is conducting holistic assessments on youth circumstances and supporting innovative programs and evidence-based approaches to positive youth development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program brings together public, private, and civil society stakeholders to support and scale activities that promote positive youth development through the three principal components of the initiative:

• Assessment – to identify key challenges and opportunities for youth to become healthy, productive, and engaged citizens
• Learning – to share assessment results with stakeholders and disseminate promising models in positive youth development
• Innovation– to test and scale successful models in education, employability, and entrepreneurship through public-private partnerships.

The program is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and is being implemented by IYF, USAID Missions, and a variety of partners in target countries. YouthMap is a project of Youth:Work, a five-year youth employability program implemented by IYF and funded by USAID through its Office of Urban Programs.