Youth Leadership Development Foundation

Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF) is a youth- and women-led non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Sana’a, Yemen, but with programming throughout the country including interventions in 12 governorates over the past four years. YLDF initiated its activities in 1998 and officially registered in 2002 as the Girls’ World Communication Center, which in 2005 became the Youth Leadership Development Foundation. The aim behind the Foundation is to contribute to the economic empowerment of the most vulnerable low-income young men and women a significant proportion of the population. All of YLDF’s assistance is provided in a neutral and transparent manner, in compliance with the Foundation’s principles and aligned with humanitarian standards. YLDF promotes the equality of young people and women and seeks to protect the rights of such groups through programs that: empower them to meet their own needs; foster the expression of their ideas and creativity; and encourage their engagement in decision-making process in their own lives, as well as in development and humanitarian contexts. YLDF’s institutional history prioritizes continual improvement in management systems and impact, as well as focusing on learning outcomes for staff, beneficiaries and key stakeholders. Since its establishment over two decades ago, YLDF has positively impacted the lives of thousands of young people and women through educational, economic and empowerment programming creating agents for positive change. Since 2015 and the onset of the current crisis, YLDF has been providing desperately needed humanitarian assistance to tens of thousands of vulnerable Yemenis in need.