Youth leadership for local public policy advocacy SUMMARY
Mid 2020, Plan International Netherlands, Plan International Dominican Republic and the Dominican organisation Pro Familia, launched a project supported by the European Commission. The aim is to strengthen the capacity of young people (especially girls) to participate in decision-making processes on issues that have a major impact on their lives, such as teenage pregnancies, child marriages, violence and gender inequality. Dialogue is promoted between policy makers and vulnerable groups so that policies respond to their needs and realities and are actually implemented. We will strengthen the participation of youth organisations in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of public policies, programmes and projects in the provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santiago, Duarte and La Altagracia. The lobbying capacity of some 85 civil society organisations (particularly youth) will be strengthened so that they can advocate the rights of the youth population to the local authorities. Violence against women and girls is a huge problem in the Dominican Republic. For example, in the provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santuiago, Duarte and La Altagracia, 23% of the total number of feminicides (39 out of 165 feminicides) reported in the country in 2018 (data from the General Prosecutor's Office, 2019). Teen pregnancies and early marriages are common. Almost half of the women in these provinces were married before the age of 18. Women's and young people's rights can only be defended to a limited extent. There is little interaction between local authorities and civil society and certainly not with youth organisations. The lack of functional mechanisms for public participation at the local level prevents the necessary articulation and dialogue promoted by community groups and civil society organisations for the enforcement of legal and regulatory frameworks to defend human rights. 
This project aims to bridge this gap by strengthening the capacity of civil society youth structures to participate in dialogue processes that affect youth in the prioritised provinces. Teenage pregnancy, early marriage and gender-based violence are not only violations of the rights of young people, particularly women, but are also factors that prevent them from exercising or demanding that their social, economic, civil and political rights be guaranteed. Impact: To contribute to the recognition of demands from civil society organizations to promote the exercise of social, civil, economic and political rights, especially sexual and reproductive rights and gender equality in the Provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santiago, Duarte and La Altagracia.

General objective: To strengthen the participation of youth organizations in the processes of formulation, implementation and monitoring of public policies, programs and projects developed to guarantee the exercise of social, civil, economic and political rights, especially gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights, of the population living in the provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santiago, Duarte and La Altagracia. 

Result 1: capacities of 85 youth organizations and community structures (60% women and 40% men, aged 15-24 years) from the provinces of Santiago, Duarte, La Altagracia, Azua and Barahona are strengthened for the mobilization, participation and advocacy for social, civil and economic rights (with special focus towards the promotion of gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights).
Result 2: 125 duty bearers (40% women and 60% men), who are sensitized by the mobilization and advocacy actions of youth community structures, show commitment for improved social, economic, political and civil rights (with special focus for sexual and reproductive rights and gender equality).
Result 3: 18,000 young people, women and community members (50% women and 50% men, all ages), are sensitized by youth community organizations and structures on gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights This action responds to the historic commitment of Profamilia and Plan International to advance respect for human rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) and gender equality in the Dominican Republic. These organisations have worked for the empowerment of girls, boys and young people to promote sexual and reproductive rights and gender equality, specifically addressing comprehensive sexuality education, awareness of teenage pregnancy and early marriages, prevention and care of gender-based violence, friendly and economic access to contraceptive methods and other sexual and reproductive health services. Both Profamilia and Plan have been successful in advancing and positioning demands for changes in national legislation, norms and protocols, with the active participation of young people. However, it is still necessary to strengthen the positioning of these issues at the level of local governments and authorities. Both the National Development Strategy (END), as well as specific plans such as the National Plan for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy (PREA), make visible the need to strengthen the participation of civil society organizations at the local level.
Studies and diagnoses carried out have shown that it is necessary to strengthen and empower community structures, especially those of young people and women, with a gender-transformative approach, in order to enhance their capacity for advocacy and to promote the changes necessary to improve the participation of the most vulnerable groups in decision-making processes and the development of public policies within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and embodied in the Constitution of the Dominican Republic and the END 2030. Target area: provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santiago, Duarte and La Altagracia in The Dominican Republic.

455 young people (60% female and 40% male, aged 15-24 years) and members of community networks of low-income sectors from the provinces of Santiago, Duarte, La Altagracia, Azua and Barahona, including vulnerable groups of young people with low education, low-income, adolescent mothers, and other minority groups. These young people, in turn, will reach, through education and awareness actions, some 18,000 residents (50% men, 50% women) in the intervention communities of the project.    

150 community leaders (60% men, 40% women), including communicators and managers of local media.
125 duty bearers (40% women and 60% men), including governors, legislators, mayors, prosecutors, judges, representatives of the National Police, the Attorney General's Office, the National Council for Children (CONANI), the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Women, and the Ministry of Youth.

Indirect Beneficiaries: 375,000 young women and men, residing in the provinces of Azua, Barahona, Santiago, Duarte and La Altagracia will benefit from promoted positive changes in policies, programes and projects -	Identifying organisations to participate
-	Organizing workshops for youth and community organisations
-	Creating dialogue spaces 
-	Organizing youth forum
-	Organizing workshops for duty bearers
-	Advocacy actions with authorities, decision makers and opinion leaders. 
-	Set up working groups with the participation of community organisations participating in the project to formulate and monitor action plans for the advancement of rights.
-	Communication strategy developed
-	Distributing educational materials 
-	Awareness raising activities The sustainability in this project is guaranteed as both Plan DR and Profamilia have a long track record of working on the theme of gender equality and the SRHR agenda. The youth structures in place are also solid community organisations, so the program builds on those structures.