Positive Youth Development Impacts on Marginalized and Vulnerable Youth
A Systematic Literature Review
An estimated 85 percent of the world’s youth population live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although evidence exists that millions of young people are vulnerable to multiple levels of economic, health, and social challenges, our understandings of youth vulnerability and marginalization remains siloed. To address this gap, we systematically searched the academic and grey literature and conducted focus groups and key informant interviews (KIIs) to appraise the state of knowledge and evidence on youth vulnerability and marginalization across the international development community. Our search yielded 118 publications that met the inclusion criteria. Findings from KIIs and youth focus group discussions (FGDs) supported the key themes we found in our review of the literature. Policy, practice, and research implications are discussed.