Youth Development Advisor

Project Description

If you're passionate about empowering young people through culturally grounded education, this year-long opportunity to expand Panama's sexual and reproductive health outreach is for you.

The HIV epidemic in Panama's indigenous Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé region is a rapidly escalating public health crisis, characterized by high rates of late diagnosis, severe social stigma, and high treatment dropout rates. Remote communities cannot easily access essential health services, and youth are increasingly being diagnosed with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Recent community screenings indicate early sexual activity and high rates of adolescent pregnancy, underscoring the urgent need for stronger, youth-focused prevention and education. While the majority of Clinica TARV's work focuses on HIV testing and treatment, the clinic is seeking dedicated support to build comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and life-skills programming tailored for young people to prevent the spread of HIV.

As a Youth Development Advisor, you will collaborate with Clinica TARV clinic staff to design and deliver community- and school-based health education that is culturally relevant. You'll help create a practical outreach model that future health educators can adopt and replicate across the region. In the short term, adolescents will gain essential skills in self-care, decision-making, and sexual responsibility. Over time, the region aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy, decrease new HIV infections, and grow local capacity to consistently deliver strong, culturally grounded health education-supporting healthier futures for Ngäbe-Buglé youth.

Required Skills

Master's degree in social work, counseling, or clinical psychology.
AND
Three or more years of relevant experience in youth development programming or social work, with skills in organizational development and/or capacity-strengthening practices.

Living Conditions

The Volunteer will live in in the town of San Félix, Chiriquí, which has a population of approximately 7,000 people. The Volunteer can expect to live in independent housing throughout their service with regular cellular service, electricity, and water (although the reliability of these utilities may vary). Houses often feature concrete walls, tile floors, and a corrugated tin roof. Public transportation is available to get around the city.

Job Highlights

Expand your public health experience by designing and delivering age-appropriate health education to schools and youth groups.
Advance your Spanish proficiency and build foundational Ngäbere skills through daily interactions in the Ngäbe-Buglé region.
Develop meaningful relationships while experiencing the region's rich cultural traditions.

Activities

Support the design of youth-focused outreach and prevention activities that use playful, interactive, and participatory methods.
Design and implement a youth outreach project by engaging youth leaders to deliver activities on life skills and sexual and reproductive health.
Enhance youth-tailored health services, including life skills, testing, and treatment.
Adapt session plans based on outreach activities, outlining key objectives, materials, facilitation steps, and required tools.
Support the development of evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness and positive psychological impact of the methodologies used.
Create and facilitate training-of-trainers workshops based on the adapted session plans.

You may also work on additional projects that meet the community's interests and priorities, such as English classes or sports clubs.

Training

After a two-week orientation on topics such as health and safety, you will move to an urban community where you will collaborate with staff at Clinica TARV to assess the needs and develop a work plan in line with their established goals.

Peace Corps/Panama will equip you with Spanish and basic Ngӓbere language resources and you may work with a tutor who can help you improve your language skills.