The YIELD Hub:  Improving Youth Partnership in the Adolescents and Youth SRHR Field

The YIELD Hub, launched in 2022, emerged from the research and engagement of the YIELD Project, which saw a need to improve meaningful youth engagement for adolescents and youth in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Since its inception, the Hub is bringing together youth, funders, practitioners, and researchers to shift youth partnership as we’ve known it in the adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health rights (AYSRHR) ecosystem. 

At its core, the YIELD Hub acknowledges the stumbling blocks to young people’s leadership and participation in the AYSRHR space. Young people are often not at the centre of decision-making processes for their health and well-being, empowerment and resilience, education and skills, and connection with people and the planet. Even more concerning is that young people make up most of the global population. At present, there are 1.8 billion people aged 15 –24, the largest number in history. As such, the Hub seeks to improve young people’s partnership* in AYSRHR by facilitating Collective Action Learning processes and influencing norm change. 

There is a need to strengthen youth partnerships to be equitable and beneficial to all actors, including young people. Young people have long been vocal about the need for meaningful youth partnerships, raising awareness and visibility on what is not working, but with few practical solutions tabled to these issues. On the other hand, adult allies want to do better for young people but don’t know how.  

The YIELD Hub recognizes this disconnection in the field. It uses action learning to bring all stakeholders involved in the AYSRHR field together and design practical and realistic solutions to the issues of youth partnership in the field. It’s time for us to learn from each other, from the success and failures, and do better for the 1.8 billion young people living on Earth as we speak.

The YIELD Hub employs collective action learning, a problem-solving method to generate innovative solutions to complex problems and develop new and creative ways for adolescents and youth to get involved in the sexual and reproductive health rights ecosystem by focusing on priority topics around meaningful youth participation and partnership in the adolescent and youth SRHR space, the Hub endeavours to shift the ecosystem from one that is for youth to one that is with youth.

“Through our action learning model, we bring stakeholders together and provide them with the tools and resources to advance youth partnership within the ecosystem,” notes David Imbago-Jacome, YIELD Hub Director.

Following the successful completion of two action learning cycles so far, we are enthusiastic about collective action learning being a methodology that helps develop leaders, build teams, solve significant problems, and transform institutions within the adolescent and youth SRHR space. Guided by our mission to shift the status quo through collective action learning, we endeavour to provide technical support to other global health and SRHR ecosystems stakeholders who would wish to employ this methodology within their organisations. 

Our work is anchored on the knowledge that Universal Health Coverage, SDGs, and global goals will remain unrealised unless young people are at the forefront of addressing key SRHR issues affecting them. As such, we need to ensure that young people are equal partners rather than beneficiaries in the conceptualisation, implementation, and evaluation of SRHR interventions. 

Learn more about the YIELD Hub’s work here. 

YIELD Hub Mission

The YIELD Hub’s mission is to improve youth partnership in the AYSRHR space. By engaging and convening stakeholders through action learning groups, we develop creative, youth-centered solutions designed to transform the field of AYSRHR.

Author

Beatrice Okech, Communications and Partnerships Advisor