Year of the evaluation publication:
2014

Country or region covered:
Kenya

Owner of the evaluation: 
USAID

Type of owner:
public - governmental body

Year when the evaluation was conducted: 
2013-2014

Sector:
Youth participation

Language of the evaluation:
English

Language of the Executive summary:
English

Intervention described and evaluated: 
Yes Youth Can! (YYC) is a 3-year, $55m program funded by USAID to promote youth empowerment in Kenya. YYC’s approach is to work with young people in communities to organize themselves into groups called “bunges.” These bunges are formed for a variety of purposes according to the activities that the youths themselves wish to pursue, ranging from income-generating activities to community service and arts.

Methodological approach: 
There are three components to the methodology. The first of these is a rigorous impact evaluation, which seeks to measure the causal impact of YYC on outcomes for the beneficiaries. The impact evaluation compares outcomes for YYC participants to outcomes for a comparison group of non- beneficiaries intended to represent the counterfactual- i.e. what would have happened to the YYC participants in the absence of the program. The impact evaluation uses the statistical techniques of panel data modeling in conjunction with propensity score matching to obtain rigorous quantitative estimates of impact.
The evaluation also includes a quantitative analysis of the impact of bunge characteristics. Because of YYC’s youth-driven approach, there was significant variation in terms of the activities and purposes of bunges, which aspects of the program they participated in, and other characteristics related to the program. 
The rigorous impact evaluation and analysis of the impact of bunge characteristics makes use of a longitudinal household survey dataset collected specifically for the evaluation.

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