Focus

Youth in Action - Evaluation and Monitoring

Every year the EU Youth in Action programme supports over 8 000 projects allowing more than 150 000 young people and youth workers to make valuable experiences in the field of non formal education and youth. In accordance with its legal framework, and in respect of the principle of sound management, the implementation of the programme is subject to regular, independent, external evaluation and permanent monitoring.

Evaluation and monitoring activities allow to:

be accountable on the implementation and the impact of the Programme;
adjust, if necessary, the conditions of its implementation;
support reflections regarding the future developments of EU programmes and initiatives in the area of non formal education and youth.

The results of these activities are thus of interest for:

the Institutions of the Union, in particular the Parliament and the Council, as co-legislative bodies, and the Commission, responsible for the implementation of the Programme;
the Programme Countries, particularly interested in the results and in the impact of the Programme at national level;
youth organisations (European Youth Forum, National Youth Councils, voluntary organisations, etc.);
the general public, including the medias, particularly likely to be interested by a Programme addressing a broad layer of the population.

EVALUATION

In accordance with the provisions of Article 15 of the Youth in Action programme's legal base, the European Commission is asked to issue:

in 2011, an interim evaluation report on the results obtained and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the first three years of implementation of the programme (2007-2009);
in 2016, an ex post evaluation report on the achievements of the entire programming period.

Interim evaluation

The European Commission has adopted the report resulting from the interim evaluation of the programme.
The report is available here

This report is based on the findings of an external evaluation carried out at European level by the company ECORYS which also analysed the outcomes of national evaluation reports carried out in each Youth in Action participating country. The external evaluation report is available here

MONITORING

Besides the extensive evaluation exercises, the Commission carries out statistical analyses and surveys aimed at monitoring - on a more regular basis - certain aspects of the programme's implementation.

With this regard, t the beginning of 2011, the Commission launched for a second time a survey aimed at assessing the qualitative outcomes of Youth in Action projects on their participants and promoters.

This survey - carried out among more than 5 000 young people, youth workers and youth organisations - shows that the Youth in Action programme is well on track in fostering active citizenship and promoting the acquisition of skills leading to personal, social and professional development.

The survey was carried out in all Member States and focused on participants in transnational projects.

Main results of the survey

Among the young participants:

91% consider that having participated in a YiA project has increased their competences in a foreign language;
84% consider that they learned better how to achieve something in the interest of their community or society;
75% learned better how to identify opportunities for their personal or professional future;
87% say that the projects made them more receptive to multiculturalism in Europe;
67% believe that their job chances have increased thanks to the project experience.

Among the youth workers:

86% of the respondents consider that they will now give more attention to including an international dimension in their work;
92% consider that they gained skills and knowledge which they would not be able to gain through projects organised at national level.

Among the youth organisations:

90% consider as ´very true´ or ´somewhat true´ that participating in a project supported by Youth in Action increased their project management skills;
89% consider as ´very true´ or ´somewhat true´ that it increased their appreciation of cultural diversity.

Asked if they had been participating in a new international or European initiative since the end of their project or are planning to do so in the future, 80% of the young participants, 90% of the youth workers and 96% of the youth organisations responded positively.

More information:
Main results of the monitoring survey

Full report of the monitoring survey

Impact of the European Voluntary Service

The above mentioned results are in line with the survey carried out at the beginning of 2010. The results of the 2010 survey can be consulted here:
Main results of the monitoring survey

Full report of the monitoring survey