Youth Policy Development
Every Government in the Gulf Has a Youth Strategy. Few Have the Capacity to Make It Work.
Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 places young people at the centre of economic transformation. The UAE has a National Youth Agenda. Qatar's National Vision 2030 defines youth development as a pillar of human development. Across Africa, the AU Youth Charter commits member states to youth-responsive governance. The problem is not the absence of policy. The problem is the capacity to design policy that works, implement it in ways that actually reach young people, and evaluate whether it is achieving what it set out to do.
The gaps between youth policy ambition and youth policy reality:
- National youth strategies that were written three years ago and have not been operationalised into actual programmes
- Youth policies developed without a real needs assessment, built on assumptions about what young people need rather than evidence
- Coordination failures between the five ministries that all have some responsibility for youth but no shared accountability framework
- M&E frameworks that measure activities, youth events held, young people reached, rather than outcomes
- Youth participation processes that are cosmetic consultations rather than genuine co-design
- Donor and government reporting that cannot demonstrate what has actually changed for young people
This course gives government officials, development professionals, and civil society leaders the tools to close these gaps, in the specific policy environments of the Gulf, Africa and Asia.
Why Youth Policy in the Gulf, Africa and Asia Requires Specialised Training
Youth policy training developed in European or North American contexts assumes parliamentary systems, strong civil society, and independent statistical agencies. The reality in most Gulf, African and Asian contexts is different, and the policy tools must be adapted accordingly.
🏛️ GCC Policy Architecture
Youth policy in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait operates within national development visions, royal decrees and ministerial mandates, a policy architecture that requires specific navigation skills very different from parliamentary advocacy.
🌍 African Policy Landscape
The AU Youth Charter, national youth commissions, and the role of civil society in African youth policy advocacy create a complex ecosystem that requires both legal knowledge and political intelligence to navigate effectively.
📊 Data and Evidence
Youth needs assessments in contexts with limited administrative data, incomplete civil registration, and restricted survey access require different methodologies than assessments in high-data environments. We address this directly.
🤝 Stakeholder Complexity
Youth policy implementation requires coordinating government ministries, international donors, civil society, private sector and young people themselves, in political environments where some of these relationships are sensitive. We cover the stakeholder navigation that most policy courses ignore.
Who Should Attend
Government Ministry Staff
Officials in youth affairs, social development, education and employment ministries responsible for youth policy design, implementation and accountability.
International Organisation Staff
Programme officers in UN agencies, World Bank, African Development Bank and bilateral donors managing youth policy portfolios across the Gulf and Africa.
Policy Analysts and Advisors
Advisors providing technical assistance to governments on youth strategy, including consultants, researchers and think tank staff.
Youth Council Officers
Staff in national youth councils and youth commissions responsible for youth policy advocacy and coordination.
Civil Society Leaders
NGO directors and civil society leaders engaged in youth policy advocacy, wanting to engage more effectively with government policy processes.
Youth Development Consultants
Independent consultants providing advisory services to governments, donors and NGOs on youth strategy and programme design.
What You Will Leave With
Practical policy tools applicable immediately in your institutional context.
What Participants Report
From follow-up surveys with participants after the programme
to their policy work within 60 days
engaging in policy processes
professionals trained
all programme cohorts
Senior Policy Officer, Ministry of Youth, Gulf cohort
Programme Outline
Why this module matters: Effective youth policy requires understanding the international and regional frameworks that shape it, the political contexts that enable or constrain it, and the evidence base that should inform it. Module 1 builds this foundation, with a specific focus on the Gulf, African and Asian policy environments where participants work.
- What youth policy is and what it is not: the boundary between youth policy and youth programming
- International frameworks: AU Youth Charter, UN World Programme of Action for Youth, SDG targets relevant to youth
- National youth policy landscapes: Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 youth provisions, UAE National Youth Agenda, Qatar National Vision 2030, Kenya Vision 2030, Nigeria National Youth Policy, Indonesia National Youth Development Policy
- The political economy of youth policy: who controls it, who resists it, who benefits from it
- Why most national youth policies fail at implementation, a diagnostic framework
Why this module matters: Youth policy built without evidence produces interventions that address the problems policymakers imagine young people have, not the problems young people actually face. Module 2 builds the methodological skills to produce an accurate, actionable picture of youth needs in data-limited environments.
- Methods for youth needs assessment: surveys, focus groups, administrative data, participatory assessment
- Data sources for the Gulf and Africa: national statistics offices, ILO youth data, UN Population Division, World Bank youth indicators
- Disaggregating data: gender, geography, disability, economic status, why aggregate youth data hides the most important problems
- Assessing youth needs in environments with limited reliable data: rapid assessment methodologies
- Translating needs assessment findings into policy priorities: the evidence-to-policy journey
- Workshop: participants map the key youth needs assessment data available in their country context
Why this module matters: A youth policy that cannot be operationalised, financed or coordinated across agencies is a document, not a policy. Module 3 covers the architecture of a workable youth policy, from vision to specific targets, from institutional responsibility to budget, with specific attention to how this works in Gulf, African and Asian governance contexts.
- The components of a youth policy: vision, principles, priorities, objectives, strategies, targets, institutional arrangements
- Setting measurable youth policy goals: what makes a target useful rather than aspirational
- Aligning youth policy with national development frameworks: Vision 2030, national development plans, SDGs
- Inter-ministerial coordination: designing accountability frameworks across the ministries that share responsibility for youth
- Financing youth policy: budget allocation, donor coordination, public-private partnership, ring-fencing
- Workshop: participants design or critique the architecture of a youth policy for their country context
Why this module matters: Youth participation that is cosmetic undermines policy legitimacy. Implementation that is not planned in detail produces policies that exist only on paper. Youth employment, the central youth policy challenge across the Gulf, Africa and Asia, requires specific policy literacy. Module 4 covers all three.
- Youth participation in policy: the participation spectrum from tokenism to genuine co-design, methods that work in Gulf and African contexts
- Cultural and political constraints on youth participation in GCC contexts, and how to navigate them
- Implementation planning: from policy commitment to funded, coordinated programmes with clear accountability
- Youth employment policy: the central challenge for most Gulf, African and Asian youth policies
- Policy levers for youth employment: skills development, job creation, entrepreneurship, labour market reform, Saudization and Emiratisation as youth employment policy
- Youth employment in informal economy contexts: Africa and South/Southeast Asia
Why this module matters: A youth policy without an M&E framework cannot demonstrate impact. A youth policy without a stakeholder strategy will not survive the political pressures that come with implementation. Module 5 covers both, and builds each participant's policy action plan.
- Designing an M&E framework for youth policy: outcome indicators, data collection systems, reporting structures
- Measuring youth development outcomes at national scale: what is possible and what requires being honest about limitations
- Learning and adaptation in policy: how to use evidence to improve policy implementation without losing political continuity
- Stakeholder mapping for youth policy: government ministries, international donors, civil society, private sector, young people
- Advocacy strategy: communicating youth policy priorities to budget decision-makers in Gulf and African political contexts
- Personal policy action plan: the three specific policy actions each participant commits to in the 60 days after this course
📋 For Government Agencies and International Organisations
Building youth policy capacity at the individual and team level produces institutional returns that outlast any single programme:
In-house delivery allows us to focus the programme on your specific policy context, existing policy documents, and institutional mandate. We have delivered in-house youth policy training for government ministries and UN agencies across the Gulf and Africa. Contact us to discuss.
Request In-House DeliveryCommon Questions
Is this course only for government officials?
No. While a significant proportion of participants are from government ministries and public bodies, the course is equally relevant for NGO leaders, development consultants, UN agency staff, and researchers working on youth policy. The perspectives of civil society and international organisations enrich the discussions for government participants and vice versa.
Does the course address youth policy in specific countries?
The course uses case studies from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Jordan and Indonesia. In-house delivery allows us to focus specifically on your country's policy context, legislative framework and institutional landscape, including working directly with your existing policy documents.
Is this relevant to Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia?
Directly. Youth human capital development is a central pillar of Vision 2030. This course specifically addresses how to design and implement youth programmes that align with Vision 2030 priorities, how to measure outcomes against national indicators, and how to build the case for youth investment in the Vision 2030 framework.
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Youth Policy Is Too Important to Leave to Good Intentions. Build the Skills to Make It Work.
Join government officials, development professionals and civil society leaders from across the Gulf, Africa and Asia who have built the policy capacity to turn youth strategies into reality.
📅 Upcoming Schedules
View all dates for this course →We run this course as a private programme for organisations. Bespoke dates, tailored content, group pricing.
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