Evidence Review of Adolescent and Youth Participation

Highlights

Over recent decades, adolescent and youth participation in governance and policymaking has expanded significantly, driven by both a rights-based imperative and a growing recognition that young people bring unique perspectives that older generations cannot substitute for. Yet, while the benefits to participants themselves are well documented, evidence of the impact of participation on institutions and society at large remains fragmented, context-specific and is often limited.

This review focuses on the institutional and societal outcomes of participation. It aims to address a central question: what are the outcomes for government institutions and society at large when adolescents and young people participate in policy development and implementation?

The evidence suggests that adolescent and youth participation can produce significant changes to policies, legislation and budgets. In health, participation has led to tangible improvements in service quality and accessibility. In education, meaningful student participation in school governance produces measurable improvements in school climate, teacher–student relationships and learning outcomes in some cases. In child protection, child-led organizations and peer networks have functioned as protective mechanisms in their own right. Evidence of tangible impact is strongest at local governance level, where proximity to decision-makers increases the opportunities to influence. More broadly, adolescent and youth participation is associated with increased public trust in government, stronger democratic socialization and shifts in adult attitudes towards children and youth as competent civic actors.

For programming, participation should be embedded in formal governance structures with real resources and follow-through, with pre- and post-assessments built in from the outset and data consistently disaggregated by age, gender, disability, and race or ethnicity. For advocacy, the concrete examples documented across this study provide a strong foundation for making the case for adolescent participation at national and global levels. For future research, longitudinal designs, independent evaluations and greater geographic diversity are essential.