GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR YOUTH PARTNERSHIP:EXPERIENCES AND LEARNING FROM THE GLOBALADOLESCENT NUTRITION NETWORK (GANN) TO GUIDEENGAGING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE IN RESEARCH,PROGRAMMING AND GOVERNANCE FOR NUTRITION.
There is growing recognition of young people’s role in achieving the Agenda for Sustainable Development and promising
momentum toward youth-centred global health. Yet, the voices of young people remain absent in spaces where decisions are madeabout their nutrition and health needs and how to address these.
Recommendation 10 of the 2021 Lancet series on Adolescent Nutrition called for active partnership with young people to enable
them to advocate for change. For many organisations that have engaged with youth, and continue to do so, questions remain as tohow to facilitate meaningful partnerships that provide young people with adequate opportunities to express their views, develop theircapacities for leadership and influence decision making.
Based on insights and active co-collaboration with young people and nutrition experts from the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network(GANN)1, we propose 7 guiding principles for youth partnership. We hope that these principles will be used to inform more purposefuland meaningful partnerships with young people across all phases of research, programming and governance for nutrition.
It is important that, when planning partnerships with young people, we
provide them with opportunities to engage from policy or practiceconcept to the design, implementation, and dissemination at all levels(local to global).

EMPOWERMENT• Enable exposure to local and global
levels of youth representation• Provide upskilling opportunities andleadership training to enhance knowledge
and capacity• Create a space for safe dialogue and togrow self-confidence within young people• Consider the power balance between
young people and adults• Engage youth who are passionate
about the cause thereby fostering
their intrinsic empowerment• Engage the parents, families, andcommunities of young people.

1

Any partnership should actively incorporate opportunities for upskilling
and leadership training and for young people’s participation in decision
making. Youth can have a huge positive influence on finding solutions to
global problems and even more so if they are empowered with the skills
needed to take part in decision-making.
An organisation that provides a safe space for dialogue consciously andsystematically creates an environment where the safety and wellbeingof young people are at the centre of thought, values, and actions. Thisapproach places emphasis on genuine engagement with youth through theconsideration of a possible power balance and creates conditions that reduce
the likelihood of harm. Partnerships should foster spaces of safe and open
dialogue in which young people are able to connect and share their viewsand experiences without fear of judgement. This may mean having separate
meetings for young people, or changing an organisation’s ways of working.
Ensuring that young people are invested in a cause may equate to a degreeof intrinsic empowerment and self-motivation that benefits both the project
and their own capacity development.
As part of the empowerment process, organisations can consider engaging
the parents, families, and communities of young people to further develop
an enabling environment – both for youth participation itself, and for thechanges that young people advocate for.

It is important to be transparent about the aims of the project and to clearly
define and communicate the role of young people in achieving these.
It is not uncommon for miscommunications to arise between partnerorganisations and youth partners. To avoid loss of trust between boththe youth partner and the organisation, young people must understandwhat is expected of them before they agree to participate and, wherepossible, feed into outlining ways of working that they feel comfortablewith and that promote their active participation. Trust plays an importantrole in the meaningful engagement and involvement of young people.
Building trust, as with anything, can take time and often a good starting pointis the sharing of simple information in casual conversations, e.g., what they areinterested in? What their hobbies are? etc.
Transparency should extend to the intended use for young people’s input
and to the continued sharing of outputs and decisions made as a result, evenafter project completion. Ensure it is explained to youth partners how their
inputs are used, interpreted and have influenced outcomes by establishing acommunication feedback loop.
1	The Global Adolescent Nutrition Network is a network of global experts in adolescent nutrition from academia to United Nations
agencies, governments and international non-governmental organisations, coordinated by the Emergency Nutrition Network.

TRANSPARENT2• Clearly set involvement
expectations at the outset• Build trust between
the organisation andyoung person• Clearly communicate
when outcomes have been
informed by or resulted fromyoung people’s input

RECOGNITION• Recognise youth as the leadersof today, and as equal actors inany partnership• Value and recognise youth
capacities and contributions as youwould those of adults, including
by providing a job title• Value young people’s time andinput through renumeration
and authorship

3

Young people must be adequately recognised as partners. This can beachieved in various ways including in project descriptions and job titles
or by providing them with certificates of participation, references fortheir CVs, or opportunities to speak at meetings or conferences.
The role of an organisation when engaging with young people is toensure they know they are valued and that they are appropriately
remunerated for their time. In some cases, young people may befinancially compensated for their time, have their involvement costs
covered or receive opportunities to travel.
Recognition of the contributions by youth partners should be reported on
and acknowledged both in person and in any publications or presentations
connected to the partnership’s work.

To respect the rights of young people, it is important thata partnership is conducted with integrity and honesty.
Organisations have the responsibility to ensure that privacy,
confidentiality, and cultural sensitivities are guaranteed
at all times and that young people are free to maketheir own decisions.
As partner organisations, we need to make sure that power
dynamics do not cause harm to participants or disrespect
their rights. Respect of youth partner’s decisions within theengagement process needs to occur – including if the young
person wants to withdraw from the partnership.
Organisations should provide opportunities for youth partners
to make informed choices about their participation and to
give their consent, assent or dissent. Safeguarding proceduresmust be in place for partnering with youth under the age of
18. Consideration must also be given to the advantages anddisadvantages of parental consent in different cultural contexts.
Organisations need to spend time understanding the context
and identity positions of the youth partners and how these might
produce intersecting forms of disadvantage, discrimination– or privilege - and build relationships by respecting their
lived experiences and maximising their benefits throughthe partnership.

INCLUSIVE• Provide equal
opportunities for all
young people to engage,regardless of culturaland social backgrounds,
education, religion, gender,disability, sexual orientation,
context, political and economic
status, or other characteristics• Provide opportunities for themost vulnerable andunderrepresented youth
to engage (e.g., out ofschool adolescents, girls,young mothers)

5

RESPECTFUL

4• Respect young people’s input throughadaptable working practices (considering
workspaces and times outside usualbusiness hours)• Ensure mutually respectful partnerships
between young people and adults• Respect youth partners as co-contributors,innovators and lived experienceknowledge brokers• Always obtain consent/assent from a young
person – not just a parent• Ensure safe and sensitive risk protection forthe youth engaged through organisation
safeguarding procedures as well as childrights protection and responsibilities foryouth under the age of 18

Meaningful engagement with young people must have inclusive and diverse
representation across cultural and social backgrounds, education, religion, gender,disability, sexual orientation, political and economic context to ensure allvoices are captured.
Consideration of intersectionality is crucial to allow opportunities to engage
young people on multiple levels, all who have unique expertise and lived
experiences of different forms of oppression.
To capture truly diverse and inclusive representation of young people, specificconsideration of how to provide the most vulnerable and underrepresented youth(e.g., out of school adolescents, girls, young mothers) an opportunity to engage
with nutrition policy and practice is key. To ensure that this takes place, specificconsideration of how to best identify and invite participation by these youth partners
should be included in engagement planning (e.g., facilitation through local trusted
youth organisations such as religious groups or girl guides).
Once identified, the organisation will need to be adaptable in how it engages
vulnerable young people and possibly pivot from traditional communication
methods or types of digital or written engagement to more facilitated face to faceengagement. Specific consideration should also be provided to principles 1,2, 4
during this process.

Engagement must be authentic through intentional interactions that are
respectful (guiding principle 4) and provide the opportunity for young
people to be heard and contribute to decision making.

INTENTIONAL

Organisational partners should be intentional about youth partners
being consulted on decisions, making joint decisions or, best of all,initiating and leading decisions. Participation for show where young
people have had little or no influence, decoration where young people
simply implement adult initiatives, and manipulation where adults use
young people to support their own projects are all unacceptable (seeUNFPA ladder of youth participation).
The measurement of intentional youth engagement and partnerships is key tomonitor the accountability of the organisation and the experiences of young
people. It also helps to ensure that partnerships are mutually beneficial. This
could be achieved by creating feedback loops, conducting interim and exit
interviews with young people and/or through internal reflection. Monitoringoutcomes of intentional youth engagement and partnerships can provide
valuable data for future investment and resourcing of partnerships.

CONSISTENT• Engage young people
consistently and embedyouth partnership
across sectors

76• Engage young people
authentically through intentionaland respectful interactions• Intentional partnerships shouldmake joint decisions withyoung people• Encourage young people toinitiate and lead decision making• Measure intentional youth
engagement and partnerships

Young people must be consistently provided with opportunities
for engagement where their opinions can be heard and they canmeaningfully influence decisions. This requires more than a ‘token’
one-off consultation. The opportunity for meaningful engagement
must be embedded in institutional policy along with local communities,schools, health care, child protection, and workplaces.
Organisations should support young people to organise and identify
issues of concern and help them to access relevant policy makers. Thismight include actions such as enabling young people to undertake research,develop strategies for change, and provide campaign and advocacy support(ensuring this is led by the youth partner).

REFERENCES DRAWN ON TO BUILD CONTENT
1.	Youth Co-Research Toolkit for Researchers 2023 Young and Resilient Research Centre Western Sydney University, Sydney Australia.
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/young-and-resilient/research/co-research_toolbox/youth_co-research_toolkit_for_researchers
2.	
Meaningfully engaging with youth. Guidance and training for UN staff 2019 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
for the Interagency Network on Youth Development (IANYD), PARIS https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/wp-content/uploads/
sites/21/2021/05/Meaningfully-engaging-youth-Guidance-training-UN-staff.pdf
3.	
Conceptual Framework for Measuring Outcomes of Adolescent Participation 2019 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), New Yorkhttps://www.unicef.org/media/59006/file
4.	Guidance on Enhancing Youth Participation in East and Southern Africa. 2018 Report. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) East and SouthernAfrica Regional Office (ESARO) https://esaro.unfpa.org/en/publications/guidance-enhancing-youth-participation-east-and-southern-africa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This technical brief was written by Stephanie V Wrottesley (ENN) and Catharine Fleming (Western Sydney University). The authors thank our youth
partners, Alexi Cross (Western Sydney University), Dipty Chowdhury, Milca Jane Cameseria, Webster Makombe (Act4Food), and the following
members of the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network for their conceptual guidance and review: Amanda Mrungi (Ministry of Health Uganda),
Cristina Alvarez (UNICEF), Frances Mason (Save the Children UK), Natasha Lelijveld (ENN), Marion Roche (Nutrition International), Miriam Schindler(Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), Sarah Kehoe (University of Southampton), and Silvia Alayon (Save the Children US). We thank ourcopyeditor Alison Parkin and Designer Chris Woodrow.
We were able to publish this brief thanks to the generous support of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland. The ideas, opinions, and comments
included here are entirely the responsibility of the document’s authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies of the donor.
Suggested citation: Stephanie V. Wrottesley and Catharine Fleming (2024). Guiding principles for youth partnership: Experiences andlearning from the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network (GANN) to guide engaging with young people in research, programming andgovernance for nutrition. Global Adolescent Nutrition Network (GANN) and Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN): Oxford, UK. April 2024.
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25684416

7 GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR YOUTH PARTNERSHIP
These guiding principles are based on insights andactive co-collaboration with young people and nutrition
experts from the Global Adolescent Nutrition Network(GANN). We hope that they will be used to inform more
purposeful and meaningful partnerships with youngpeople across all phases of research, programmingand governance for nutrition.

TRANSPARENT• Clearly set involvement
expectations at the outset• Build trust between the organisationand young person• Clearly communicate when outcomes
have been informed by or resulted
from young people’s input

RESPECTFULEMPOWERMENT

12• Respect young people’s input throughadaptable working practices (considering
workspaces and times outside usualbusiness hours)• Ensure mutually respectful partnerships
between young people and adults• Respect youth partners as co-contributors,innovators and lived experienceknowledge brokers• Always obtain consent/assent from ayoung person – not just a parent• Ensure safe and sensitive risk
protection for the youth engaged
through organisation safeguarding
procedures as well as child rights
protection and responsibilities for youth
under the age of 18

34INTENTIONAL• Engage young people authenticallythrough intentional andrespectful interactions• Intentional partnerships should makejoint decisions with young people• Encourage young people to initiate
and lead decision making• Measure intentional youth
engagement and partnerships• Enable exposure to local and global
levels of youth representation• Provide upskilling opportunities
and leadership training to enhanceknowledge and capacity• Create a space for safe dialogue
and to grow self-confidence
within young people• Consider the power balance
between young people and adults• Engage youth who are passionate
about the cause thereby fostering
their intrinsic empowerment• Engage the parents, families, andcommunities of young people.

RECOGNITION• Recognise youth as the leadersof today, and as equal actors inany partnership• Value and recognise youth capacities
and contributions as you would
those of adults, including by
providing a job title• Value young people’s
time and input throughrenumeration and authorship

INCLUSIVE

56• Provide equal opportunities for all
young people to engage, regardlessof cultural and social backgrounds,education, religion, gender,disability, sexual orientation, context,
political and economic status, orother characteristics• Provide opportunities for the mostvulnerable and underrepresented
youth to engage (e.g., out of school
adolescents, girls, young mothers)

CONSISTENT

7• Engage young people
consistently and embed youth
partnership across sectors