Our approach

From 2016 to 2021 Save the Children Italy supported the implementation of the Youth Empowerment Bulgari (YEB) Programme in Bolivia, Albania, Uganda and Nepal, reaching over 30,000 young people empowered for the achievement of their aspirations and dreams.  The YEB Model that guided implementation tailored pathways for young people through Personal Development, Education and Training, and Economic Empowerment supported by an Enabling Environment.

From 2019 to 2021 Save the Children Italy channeled they YEB´s enormous experience, towards an improved approach that could be recognized globally through its Strategic Initiative on Adolescent Skills for Successful Transitions.  For this ambitious endeavour, a strong evidence and learning component was developed including Research, Evaluation, an Impact Assessment and the enormous experience of the four implementing countries.  This effort contributed to two important processes: 

1) Influence the development of Save the Children´s Adolescent Wellbeing Framework for Action.  Led by Save the Children Italy and endorsed globally in 2021, the Framework sets out how we can best support adolescents to fulfil their rights and maximize their wellbeing.

2) Design the Pathways tO Wellbeing, Empowerment, and Resilience for Adolescents and Youth Programme (POWER 4 AY) which is a ground-breaking first interpretation and application of the Adolescent Wellbeing Framework.

The POWER 4 AY Approach implements the Guiding Principles of Adolescent Wellbeing Framework to guide programming and is explicit in addressing the following challenges: i) Integrated, cross thematic and holistic approach, ii) Age-specificity, iii) Gender Transformative, iv) Disability Inclusion, v) Application of the Socio-ecological Model, vi) WASH, vii) COVID-19, viii) Environment and Climate Change, ix) Adolescent and Youth Protagonism , x) Sustainability, and xi) applying a Common MEAL Framework. 

Through the POWER 4 Approach programmatic efforts accompany young people to become the agents of their own wellbeing as they progress through tailored pathways built WITH and FOR them which can be synthesized in the following 5 steps: (1) I feel safe, I value myself, others and my environment; (2) I have a dream and I know I can achieve it; (3) I am informed and I can make positive and responsible choices regarding sexuality, health, nutrition and safeguard for myself and my family; (4) I can pursue personal, academic and professional goals and support my family (5) I can join forces with my peers and lead change to influence policies, resource allocation and programming that concern us and improve community, society and environment.

Programmatically the Approach translates these 5 steps into 4 Outcomes.  The first Outcome is around improving the choices on sexual reproductive health and prevention of violence, the second focuses on supporting inclusive educational pathways, the third is focused on economic empowerment and transition to decent work, and the last brings into play young people´s agency and protagonism in improving their environment.  Transferable Life Skills are foundational to all of the Outcomes. 

Adolescent and youth wellbeing depend on a large extent also on the supportive environment in which they live.  For this reason, the POWER 4 AY promotes strategies to trigger positive outcomes at all levels of the socio-ecological model: working with young people, families, peers, communities, services, systems, laws and policies. This is also reflected in the structure of the POWER 4 AY Theory of Change which identifies Catalysers - the change necessary to bring about the desired outcome - to improve adolescent and youth wellbeing at each level of the socio-ecological model. 

From July 2021 to July 2026, the same countries that implemented YEB have contextualized the POWER 4 Approach to reach 20,000 young people most impacted by inequality and discrimination.  Today the POWER 4 AY is recognized as a reference Programme WITH and FOR adolescents and youths, contributing to our movement´s highest ambitions to reach the most impacted by inequality and discrimination.  To learn more, please see our POWER 4 AY Brochure.