The overall objective of PEP’s commitment is to support and increase evidence-based policy making in nine African countries. The immediate objective is to develop the capacity of local experts to produce a reliable evidence base on youth employment issues, while engaging with policy to ensure uptake in decision and advisory processes. PEP will support local researchers to carry out contextualized research and policy engagement activities through nine projects supported by PEP’s current core donors: DFID, IDRC and Hewlett Foundation. The commitment will run for three years from January 2020 to December 2022.</p>Implementation methodologies.
PEP supports researchers from developing countries through its unique programme, the grant plus model, that uses a “learning by doing” approach to provide local researchers with a comprehensive package of intensive training, continual mentoring, and international peer-review, designed to strengthen a range of skills related to the production and brokering of scientific evidence to inform policy from project design to publication and dissemination. PEP grantees are required to hold periodic consultations with policy stakeholders throughout the research cycle, including organizing high-level national policy conferences, which include the public and media. Through nine ongoing youth employment projects, PEP will contribute to Decent Jobs for Youth by providing access to information on youth employment policy as an evidence base. PEP will also provide support to promote the uptake of this evidence for policy action. The projects will result in a series of knowledge products, including working papers, policy papers, policy briefs and publications in peer-reviewed journals. PEP also publishes summaries of the projects’ findings for its news channels and website. At least 27 knowledge products will be produced that will contribute to the Decent Jobs for Youth Knowledge Facility. PEP will also support researchers’ participation in international conferences, which could include conferences of Decent Jobs for Youth, where they share their research findings with peers. A total of 49 youth employment stakeholders will be supported through technical assistance, capacity building and peer learning. It is estimated that at least 27 knowledge sharing events will be held as part of the projects.