USAID’s YouthPower2: Learning and Evaluation (YP2LE) is a five-year project that seeks to generate and disseminate knowledge about the implementation and impact of positive youth development (PYD) and cross-sectoral approaches in international youth development programming. In Ethiopia, YP2LE is conducting an impact evaluation of the USAID Mission to Ethiopia (USAID/Ethiopia) Integrated Youth Activity (IYA), known as the Kefeta Activity. The $60-million Kefeta Activity covers a 5-year period (August 2021–August 2026). Led by Amref Health Africa (AMREF), Kefeta comprises a consortium of local and international agencies working collaboratively to empower Ethiopian youth to increase their economic opportunities, create youth-led enterprises, and improve their voice in local, regional, and national policy dialogue, as well as expand access to youth-friendly essential services. The Activity also seeks to strengthen the capacity of Ethiopian higher education institutions, youth-serving organizations, and health and financial service providers to support economic and civic engagement opportunities for youth aged 15–29, with an emphasis on out-of-school youth, university students, and technical vocational and educational and training (TVET) students. 

Our impact evaluation will use a difference-in-difference quasi-experimental design to compare changes in outcomes of youth who are exposed to IYA activities in intervention areas with those among youth in non-intervention/comparison areas. The impact evaluation will quantify Kefeta’s impacts on youth outcomes approximately 22 months after the Activity was launched. We will also calculate the Activity’s cost-effectiveness by comparing program costs to estimated effects on youth. In-depth interviews and focus groups will explore participants’ experiences with and perceptions of the Activity, and identify facilitators and barriers to achieving program outcomes.

We conducted the baseline survey from August - December 2022. Data collection was focused in eight locations (four intervention and four comparison cities) in different geographies throughout the country. We conducted stratified random sampling by site subgroup, sex, and city as strata, and sampled simultaneously in both intervention and comparison cities. In total, 2,999 respondents, including 1,503 respondents at youth centers, 896 first year university students, and 600 TVET students were surveyed. Respondents were evenly distributed across the intervention and comparison groups. At baseline, intervention and comparison youth were similar in a range of characteristics and outcomes. The survey data provide important contextual information for the evaluation and illustrate the potential for Kefeta to affect intended outcomes (e.g., knowledge and positive perceptions of services that do not necessarily translate into use, desire for engaging in entrepreneurship activities). Increasing youth’s engagement with Kefeta Activity programs and adoption of program content will be key to seeing improvements in knowledge, skills, youth engagement, and ultimately labor market outcomes. The mid-line is planned for late 2023/early 2024.