Strengthening youth service organisations

One of Y Care International's key contributions to the YMCA movement in the developing world is to strengthen their organisations, thereby building their capacity to deliver high quality and sustainable programmes that benefit disadvantaged young people.

By focusing on strengthening the YMCAs in the developing world, we are strengthening a network that can help many more families and communities tackle poverty and social injustice.

In order to achieve this, Y Care International supports capacity building of partner YMCAs to enable them to generate their own resources, plan and carry out more effective work with young people and ensure their long-term organisational viability.

Activities that Y Care International has supported to date include: training on fundraising, participatory planning, implementation and evaluation of youth projects, capturing and sharing learning, youth-led advocacy, human rights promotion, networking and board development.

YMCAs that are strengthened in these ways can then work closely with Y Care International to expand their programmes for disadvantaged young people, in the confidence that their organisation, as well as being rooted in the local community, is a high quality and viable one.

Comic Relief Investment Grant

With a grant from Comic Relief, Y Care International is supporting a global programme to strengthen youth serving organisations in Honduras , Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Zambia,.

After consultation with YMCA partners, key priorities were identified to be addressed by the programme, including financial sustainability, youth advocacy, youth participation and leadership.

The main objectives of the programme are:

• To enhance Y Care International’s financial sustainability by diversifying and increasing current income sources
• To enable Y Care International to increase its effectiveness by strengthening its strategic decision-making and its learning processes
• To increase the participation of young people throughout Y Care International
• To enhance the financial sustainability of the CRIG partners and related areas of organisational capacity
• To fund projects and work that seek to enhance best practice in youth participation and youth programming
• To strengthen the capacity of Y Care International and its partners to encourage and support advocacy and campaigning by marginalised young people