Background Youth empowerment programmes often face evaluation challenges because their personal development and leadership impacts extend beyond traditional metrics. For instance, a training could expose youth to a new career path, or a small seed-grant might lead to broader community opportunities.

To understand these wider implications, Youth for Road Safety (YOURS), a youth-centred safe mobility INGO, initiated the Youth Storytelling Project in partnership with FIA Foundation’s Child Health Initiative Advocacy Hub. This two-year study uses youth-created video testimonials and focus groups for participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) to capture qualitative results of YOURS’ work.

Objective The project aims to engage young people in PM&E to assess the impact of YOURS’ programmes on their development as road safety advocates and identify organisational learnings for future youth-centred mobility programmes.

Programme Description Implemented from May 2022 to May 2024, the project recruited leaders, aged 18–35, active in community road safety projects and the YOURS-managed Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. Participants produced ‘digital storytelling’ videos and participated in focus groups to document their experiences.

Outcomes and Learnings Youth provided nuanced feedback about the impact of YOURS programmes on their development and confidence to lead mobility projects. These opportunities often represented the participants’ most significant leadership experiences. Key organisational learnings included the importance of ongoing support and mentorship, creating platforms for youth story-sharing and recognition, offering customisable resources, and ensuring local partner support. The digital storytelling tactic itself significantly enhanced participants’ confidence, public speaking, and technical skills.

Implications Findings suggest that integrating digital storytelling into PM&E provides a nuanced understanding of project experiences and outcomes. It demonstrated that youth are cognizant of tokenism in the transport sector, and desire more platforms for learning, action, and recognition. By participating in this evaluation, the beneficiaries also felt more ownership over solutions moving forward.

Conclusions Storytelling fosters empathy, builds community, and drives social change. By sharing personal stories, participants reflected on their journeys and provided valuable insights into YOURS’ programmes. The project underscores the importance of capturing complex ‘human impact’ narratives to complement quantitative data, offering sustainable development practitioners creative methods to capture traditionally excluded voices.