Youth Program Planning Monitoring and Evaluation
Design Youth Programmes That Funders Fund — and Young People Actually Benefit From
The gap between a good idea and a funded, running programme is a skill gap. This course closes it. In 5 days you’ll master the complete programme design cycle — from participatory needs assessment to logframe, M&E framework, and funding proposal — using real examples from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kenya, Nigeria, and Jordan.
Before you read further — does any of this sound like your reality?
- Funders keep asking for logframes and M&E plans, and every time feels like reinventing the wheel
- Your programmes are running, but you can’t confidently show stakeholders what impact they’re having
- You’ve been asked to write a funding proposal and you’re not sure what goes where
- Your team designs programmes based on assumptions rather than evidence of what young people actually need
- You’re managing youth programmes without formal training in how to design them properly
- Reports are written to satisfy donors rather than to genuinely measure change
If you said yes to even two of these — you’re in exactly the right place. This course was built to solve these exact problems.
Who This Course Is Designed For
Government Ministry Staff
Youth, Education, or Social Affairs ministry professionals responsible for programme planning, budgeting, and reporting to national government stakeholders and international partners.
NGO & INGO Programme Staff
Coordinators and managers in youth-focused organisations funded by USAID, FCDO, EU, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation, KSRelief, or national governments who need stronger design and reporting skills.
M&E Officers
Monitoring and evaluation professionals working in youth programmes who want a structured framework for data collection, analysis, and funder reporting.
Youth Workers & Educators
Practitioners working directly with young people who want to formalise and scale their approach using proven programme design methodology.
Corporate CSR Managers
Professionals managing youth-focused CSR programmes in GCC companies who need a structured approach to demonstrate social impact to leadership and external audiences.
Career Changers Into Youth Work
Professionals entering youth development from other sectors who need a rigorous, internationally recognised foundation in programme design methodology.
What You Will Walk Away With
Not slides you’ll forget. Not theory you’ll never apply. Real, usable tools you’ll use next week.
Why This Course Works — in Numbers
Based on participant feedback across our GCC and Africa cohorts
skills within 2 weeks
trained since 2017
across all cohorts
hands-on application
The Full 5-Day Programme — Day by Day
Programme Design Foundations & Participatory Needs Assessment
The big idea of Day 1: Most youth programmes fail because they’re designed around what adults think young people need — not what young people actually tell us they need. Day 1 fixes this at the root. You’ll learn and immediately practice participatory needs assessment — the methodology used by UNICEF, IRC, and leading Gulf foundations — and apply it in a live scenario.
By end of day you will have: Completed a stakeholder map and a needs assessment for a real-world scenario, ready to inform your logframe design on Day 2.
- The Youth-Centred Programming Model and why it produces better outcomes than top-down design
- Understanding the youth development ecosystem in the GCC and Sub-Saharan Africa — who funds what, and why
- Stakeholder mapping and partnership analysis — identifying who matters and how to engage them
- Participatory needs assessment tools: focus groups, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), youth surveys, and community mapping — hands-on practice with each
- Translating needs assessment findings into clear programme objectives
- Youth involvement in design — ethical and practical approaches for real GCC and African contexts
The Logical Framework — Build One from Scratch
The big idea of Day 2: The logframe is the universal language of international development funding. If you can’t build one well, you can’t access the major funding streams — whether that’s USAID, the EU, Gulf foundations, or your own government’s development budget. Day 2 is entirely hands-on: you build your own logframe, get peer and facilitator feedback, and leave with a document you can actually use.
By end of day you will have: A complete, reviewed logframe for your programme — inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, impact, indicators, means of verification, and assumptions all filled in.
- Logframe anatomy: inputs → activities → outputs → outcomes → impact — what each level means in practice
- Setting SMART indicators: the most common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Theory of Change vs Logframe — when to use each, and how they relate
- Assumptions and risk identification — building a realistic programme plan
- Budget planning aligned to the logframe — how to cost a programme credibly
- Peer review and facilitator feedback on your logframe
Programme Development, Quality Standards & Implementation Planning
The big idea of Day 3: A programme can be perfectly designed on paper and still fail in delivery. Day 3 bridges the gap between design and reality — focusing on the decisions that determine whether your programme actually reaches young people as intended, at the quality level you promised funders and stakeholders.
By end of day you will have: An implementation plan for your programme with TQP quality standards applied, and a risk register covering the most common failure points.
- Selecting programme formats: residential, community-based, school-based, online, hybrid — what works where in GCC and Africa
- Programme promotion and participant recruitment strategies for different contexts
- Total Quality Programme (TQP) standards — the five quality dimensions and how to build them into design from day one
- Staff roles and capacity planning — who does what and when
- Risk management: safeguarding, operational, financial, and reputational risks in youth programming
- Handling complaints and escalation — building trust with communities and participants
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) — Build Your Framework
The big idea of Day 4: M&E that happens only at the end is too late to improve anything. Day 4 shows you how to build monitoring and evaluation into your programme from the start — so you’re collecting the right data throughout delivery, not scrambling for evidence when the funder asks for a report.
By end of day you will have: A complete M&E framework for your programme including data collection tools, indicator tracking sheet, and a reporting schedule aligned to your logframe.
- Monitoring vs evaluation — the difference, when each is used, and how to integrate both into a single MEL framework
- Designing data collection tools: surveys, observation checklists, KII guides, focus group guides
- Quantitative vs qualitative data — how to balance both in youth programme evaluation
- Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology for capturing stories of impact
- Outcome Harvesting for complex, emergent programmes
- Writing M&E sections of donor reports — what USAID, EU, and Gulf foundations actually want to see
Proposal Writing, Presentations & Action Planning
The big idea of Day 5: A great programme that can’t be communicated compellingly doesn’t get funded. Day 5 gives you the writing skills and confidence to translate everything you’ve built this week into proposals and presentations that win support — from international donors to national ministries to corporate funders.
By end of day you will have: A draft funding proposal structure, a short programme pitch presentation, and a 30-day action plan for implementing your learning when you return to work.
- Proposal structure: executive summary, needs analysis, programme methodology, evaluation plan, budget — what each section must achieve
- Writing for different funders: USAID, FCDO, EU, Gulf foundations (Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation, KSRelief), corporate CSR, national government ministries
- Writing compelling programme narratives — the difference between describing activities and demonstrating impact
- Budget narrative: how to justify costs credibly and avoid common funder red flags
- Participant presentations — 10-minute programme pitches with structured facilitator and peer feedback
- 30-day action plan: what you will do differently in the first month back at work
📋 For L&D Managers and Organisational Decision-Makers
If you’re considering this course for a team member, or want to bring it in-house for a group, here’s what your organisation gains:
We deliver this programme as a private in-house workshop — custom dates, tailored to your sector and context, group pricing. We’ve delivered in-house for organisations including Ministries of Youth in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, UNICEF country offices, CARE International, and multiple Gulf CSR programmes.
Common Questions
I’ve never built a logframe before. Will I be able to keep up?
Absolutely. The course is designed for practitioners at all levels — from those new to programme design to those with years of experience who want to formalise their approach. We build the logframe step by step over Day 2, with facilitator support throughout. Many participants say the logframe section is the most practically valuable part of the course.
Is the content relevant to my country and sector?
All case studies and examples are drawn from real youth programmes in the GCC (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait), the Levant (Jordan, Lebanon), and Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana). Participants from government ministries, INGOs, local NGOs, and corporate CSR teams consistently report that the content maps directly to their day-to-day work.
Can my organisation send multiple staff members?
Yes — and we’d encourage it. When multiple staff from the same team attend, the organisation gets consistent methodology across the team, which significantly improves programme quality. Groups of 5+ qualify for group pricing. Contact us at ask@matsh.co for a group quote.
Is the certificate internationally recognised?
The Matsh certificate of completion is recognised by employers across the GCC and Africa. Participants have used it to support job applications, promotions, and grant applications. If your organisation requires CPD credits, we can provide a CPD-verified certificate — contact us to arrange this before your course date.
What if my organisation needs something more tailored?
We deliver this programme in-house for organisations that want content tailored to their specific sector, funder requirements, or organisational context. In-house delivery is often more cost-effective for teams of 6 or more. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Build on This — Related Courses
Further reading: Experiential Learning in Youth Programs · Youth Work in Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030 · Community Building Activities for Youth
Ready to Design Programmes That Actually Change Things?
Join practitioners from across the GCC and Africa who’ve built the skills to design, fund, and evaluate youth programmes that get results. Your next cohort is forming now.
📅 Upcoming Schedules
We run this course as a private programme for organisations. Custom dates, tailored content, group pricing.