As the world’s largest philanthropy focused on improving children’s lives, we understand the importance of supporting and partnering with youth leaders and their organisations.

We believe that sustainable, systemic change cannot be achieved without empowering the next generation of leaders, ensuring their priorities, perspectives and lived realities are reflected in policies and programming, and harnessing their power and voice for improved accountability.

Since 2015, CIFF has been working on investments focused on promoting Meaningful Adolescent & Youth Engagement (MAYE), mainly in the field of adolescence sexual and reproductive health and – more recently – climate.

To capture successes and learnings to-date in engaging youth as beneficiaries and agents of change, CIFF commissioned the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute to conduct an external assessment of our MAYE investment portfolio.

This summary brief states the rationale for the review, its approach, and outlines the reviewers’ key findings and recommendations. We hope that the dissemination of this work will contribute to future conversations and commitments to Meaningful Adolescent & Youth Engagement among other donors and international development partners, ensuring we work towards transformative change and build a sustainable future ‘for youth by youth’.

Please find the summary of our MAYE portfolio review below.