IMPACT+ Project Model: Empowering adolescents as active citizens
The IMPACT+ Club model is an integrated life skills approach to adolescent engagement. Originally developed by World Vision’s partner, New Horizons Foundation in Romania, the goal of IMPACT+ is that adolescents, especially the most vulnerable, transition well into adulthood as active citizens empowered with competencies, values, confidence and social connectedness.
World Vision uses a Positive Youth Development approach to increase life skills and developmental assets, and to amplify voices of adolescent girls and boys through:
- Dynamic life skills: experiential learning, a learn-by-doing approach, allow for the transformation of character, attitudes, and values, as well as growth in knowledge and life skills.
- Youth-directed content: adolescent club members are involved in all decision-making, including the planning, monitoring, evaluation, and day-to-day activities of the club.
- Relationships: building peaceful relationships is foundational to developing adolescents’ assets and to their voice being recognized and values by the community.
- Service-learning projects: these projects reinforce the life skills learning process and encourages the development of young people who contribute positively to their communities.
- Local partners: building the capacity of local partners is crucial to ensuring the sustainability of the program.
IMPACT+ is GESI Responsive
World Vision seeks to use the IMPACT+ project model in ways that are transformative for adolescents and their communities. Foundational content in IMPACT+ is focused on active citizenship, which includes inquiry into gender, violence, power and discrimination and healthy relationships (among other topics), with optional modules for nutrition, age-appropriate sexual education, employability, social entrepreneurship, and leadership, which can all be framed in ways to address gender inequality and support girls’ empowerment. The Partnership has developed a comprehensive sexual education module for adolescents through IMPACT+ that focuses on both the biology related to SRH and relational and social power dynamics that influence SRH.
The table below describes ways in which IMPACT+ engages with gender, disability and other social differences and inequalities, addressing practical needs of vulnerable groups in intervention activities, along with targeting the Most Vulnerable, building skills on peaceful relationships among peers, between boys and girls, and between adolescents and caregivers and other adults.
