History
Youth Leadership Development Foundation (YLDF) is a youth- and women-led non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Sana’a, Yemen. 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 Foundation’s vision is a Yemen in which skilled, well-qualified and active young women and men play leadership roles in all domains of society and enable Yemenis to contribute to a better world.
The aim behind the Foundation is to contribute to the efforts of economic empowerment of the most vulnerable low-income young men and women, who constitute approximately 50% of the population of Yemen. YLDF provides all types of its assistance in a neutral and transparent manner, in compliance with Foundation principles and aligned with humanitarian standards. It promotes the equality of both youth and women and protects the rights of such groups through programs that: empower them to meet their own needs; participate in and express their ideas, creativity and needs; and encourage their engagement in decision-making process in their own lived, as well as in development and humanitarian contexts. YLDF’s program 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, as well as in recent years providing desperately needed humanitarian assistance to thousands of vulnerable Yemenis in need.