Advocacy and Communication

Institutional uptake of evidence for policy formation and decision making.

• Planned policy dialogues to advance the interpretation and application of evidence in policymaking and program design.
• Ongoing engagement with policymakers to make research relevant to them, including defining research questions.
• Build-in communication and dissemination plans in all our research.
• Making user-friendly targeted evidence products that are relevant for different groups of stakeholders.
•  Embedding capacity building into evidence-sharing activities.

Capacity Building

 YL acknowledges the need for enhanced capabilities and capacities to influence change at a policy and programmatic level. To address the gap, YL actively engages in undertaking capacity building programmes and supports National, State, and international organisations.

Our capacity building programmes are designed to:

 Adopt principles of andragogy and heutagogy, which promote self-directed learning.

• Offer safe space for reflection and addressing prejudices and bias of participants.
• Ensure effective and efficient transfer of skills.

 YL undertakes a variety of capacity-building activities targeted at diverse stakeholders including:

 Policymakers, planners, and administrators advance evidence-based policymaking as well as effective planning, budgeting, and monitoring of programmes.

• Master Trainers to enhance knowledge, skills, and attitudes amongst master trainers to become effective mentors/ trainers.
• Implementing Agencies/Practitioners to promote knowledge, skills, and attitudes amongst practitioners to incorporate evidence into programmes and adopt inclusive practices.

Monitoring and Evaluation

 YL is a non-partisan institution dedicated towards conducting high-quality evaluations. YL prides itself on its ability to undertake credible evaluations with strict regard to research rigour and impartiality in our observations. The central principles that guide and shape the approach to this practice group are ‘usefulness, credibility, and independence’.

To this effect, YL undertakes projects that review and/or evaluate programmes. The M&E activities are aimed to support partners using a critical friend approach and develop robust M&E frameworks aligned to their project’s theory of change (“ToC”), integrate monitoring “ToC” as an integral part of programme design and use the evidence to design effective programmes.

Research

Rigorous research on critical issues pertaining to children, adolescents, and youth using a gender and equity lens.

• Conducting primary and secondary research to address evidence gaps.
• Conducting mixed-methods research that contributes to public discourse that shapes the life of the most marginalized communities.
• Using participatory research methods to ensure voices of children, adolescents, and youth inform and guide all research studies.
• Evidence generation in collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders.
• Partnerships with University departments and mentoring of young scholars/ professionals to gain advanced research skills.

Poverty and Inequality

YL defines poverty as ‘multi-dimensional poverty’ rather than only monetary poverty. There is an underlying belief that poverty and deprivation are intrinsically interlinked, and severe deprivation in basic needs such as access to food, water, sanitation, health, shelter, education, information, and basic services results in poverty.

YL is a thought-leader in the domain of poverty and inequality and as part of the longitudinal study, the organisation has undertaken primary mixed-methods research related to childhood poverty since 2002. The research undertaken by YL has brought to the attention of policymakers the adverse long-term effect and impact of childhood poverty on the well-being of future generations.

Early Childhood Development

Early years are critical to laying a strong foundation for lifelong development. Strengthening early childhood development is considered key to achieving a number of SDGs. YL has developed tools to guide parents and teachers of children during the formative years, Evidence from the Young Lives longitudinal study highlights that investments made during early childhood are both, a foundation for better long-term development and the most efficient point of intervention to lessen the impacts of childhood poverty. This evidence has informed existing national and state-level policies and has encouraged new effective interventions to provide an enabling environment in which children can survive and thrive.

Health and Nutrition

Good health and nutrition are an essential foundation for children’s development. YL’s research highlights that focusing on maternal, neonatal, and infant health (physical and mental) and nutrition must be a policy priority, particularly during the first 1000 days. Notably, YL evidence also shows that the growth trajectories are not fixed in early childhood. Stunted children can undergo catch-up growth even after the age of five. Insights into the patterns of development and interventions which may foster more sustained healthy growth and catch-ups have informed NITI Aayog, Central Ministries and State Departments on policy and programme interventions to promote optimal growth of young children.

Education

Quality, equitable, and inclusive education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. Promoting school quality and effectiveness for children belonging to the most socially and economically disadvantaged children focus of YL. Insights based on evidence generated related to pre-school, secondary, and higher education, low-cost private education, and governance of education systems, provide valuable information for practitioners and policymakers.

YL works with the Ministry and Departments of Education to promote relevant, developmentally, and culturally appropriate education, with a focus on learning outcomes and life-skills. Our technical support includes – research, validated tool development, review and (re)design of curriculum, capacity building, and monitoring & evaluation.

Life Skills

Life Skills are increasingly being recognized as instrumental in enabling individuals to adapt, reflect, and lead healthy and productive lives. Children, adolescents, and youth need a set of psycho-social competencies to adapt to the unexpected changes and uncertainties in their lives, as well as to learn and lead productive lives, especially in the changing dynamics of learning as well as employment.

YL is working with multilateral and bilateral organizations to promote a shared understanding of life skills in the Indian context, and to create synergies in the practices of government for implementation and measurement of Life Skills. YL has undertaken a situational analysis of the implementation of life skills education across five states of India and has also developed construct-validated measurement tools for assessment of Life Skills amongst children and adolescents in Hindi, Assamese, Gujarati, and English. YL has also built capacities of education functionaries on implementation and assessment of Life Skills across India.

Disability

The exclusion of persons with disabilities poses a challenge with respect to the realization of the SDGs, and YL’s research highlights this. Despite the increasing policy attention to promote inclusive education, children and young people with disabilities remain excluded ‘from and within’ schools. YL stands for celebrating diversity as an organization. The organization is a proponent of the social model of disability and has been undertaking qualitative and quantitative research studies along with systemic capacity building for effective inclusion of children with diverse needs in schools and classrooms. The organization has developed guidance notes for parents as well as Master Trainer manuals for parents and teachers to promote inclusion.

Migration

 YL has been studying migration, particularly within the context of childhood poverty and inequality. The research studies highlight the patterns and drivers of migration of children, and the consequences of migration on well-being of children. In-depth analysis from YL researches has revealed disparate and diverse reasons for migration by location (rural/ urban), gender and age. These insights have informed policy and programmatic interventions that target young migrants’ wellbeing.

Child Protection

YL India believes that child protection is at the heart of any programming and policy intervention for promoting children’s well-being.

YL focuses on (i) research and policy intervention, (ii) monitoring and evaluation of programmes, and (iii) capacity building of key stakeholders related to protection of children (child labour, child marriage teenage pregnancy, and child trafficking).

YL is a technical partner of NCPCR on issues related to child protection and YL’s evidence and insights have informed the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s five-year vision documents. YL has undertaken both primary and secondary analysis and has prepared several knowledge products on child marriage, teenage pregnancy, prevention of children from sexual offence. Evaluation of child protection projects including those related to trafficking and child labour using innovative methods such as Qualitative Impact Protocol and participatory methods have also been undertaken across several states of India by YL.

Labour Market

The SDGs recognise the centrality of young people transitioning to the labour market, equipped with 21st Century Skills, in order to end poverty, reduce inequality, and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Over the past 21 years, YL has gained valuable insights related to educational trajectories, access to higher education, and labour market entry. Specifically, we have been able to explore skills (cognitive, digital, psychosocial, technical) which matter the most for the labour market. YL has also been promoting a shared understanding of the 21st Century Skills in the Indian context, that must become the vector of development for the young people and equip them to successfully transition to work and lead productive lives.

The YL’s COVID response telephone survey (2020-21) and the longitudinal study Round 7 (2023) provides YL the opportunity to follow the transition of children from early childhood into early adulthood.

EDUCATION

Quality, equitable, and inclusive education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. Promoting school quality and effectiveness for children belonging to the most socially and economically disadvantaged children has been a core focus of Young Lives India. Insights based on evidence generated related to pre-school education, low-cost private education, skill development (vocational and life skills), and governance of education systems, provide valuable information for practitioners and policymakers.

Young Lives India works with the Ministry and Departments of Education to promote relevant, developmentally and culturally appropriate education, with a focus on learning outcomes and life-skills. Young Lives India provides technical support including, research, tool development, review and (re)design of curricular, capacity building, and monitoring and evaluation.