Half the world’s population is under 30.

By 2100 the world’s population is expected to rise to 10.3 billion, with 80% of the population being based in Africa and Asia.
A potential global temperature rise of 2.7 will disproportionately impact young people, despite them not being responsible for this crisis.
Young people will face greater economic risk due to widening inequality and job insecurity driven by technological advances, including AI.

Yet young people are consistently underfunded, continue to bear the brunt of a polycrisis, and are left out of decisions that shape their future.

We want to change this.

Young people are the present and future for strong and prosperous economies, fair and democratic societies, and a thriving, livable planet. Young people are leading work every day to tackle the biggest challenges. We support Youth Power, the collective force of youth-led change.

WE SUPPORT YOUTH POWER

Investing in Youth Power today is a commitment to the young people of tomorrow.

Since 1985, we have reached over…

Young leaders

YOUTH-LED ORGANISATIONS

The Restless Approach

Catalysing youth-led change requires four interconnected approaches:

We nurture young people to be able to lead.
We connect young people to support, innovate, and create lasting change.
We celebrate and champion young people, amplifying success and inspiring others.
We fund young people, and advocate for them to be funded directly.

We incubate youth-led change, youth-led organisations and youth movements, in order to have a lasting impact on the world.

How we do what we do is really important to us.

Through our approaches, we help young people to develop leadership skills to make decisions, take initiative, and contribute to their communities. We train young people as researchers to explore important issues and advocate for change. We support young people to drive change by engaging their communities in tackling challenges and emergencies. We encourage young people to demand accountability by tracking commitments and pushing for real action. We also strengthen youth civil society by supporting youth-led organizations and amplifying their impact. Most importantly, we collaborate with young people to co-create innovative, intergenerational solutions for lasting social and sustainable development.

OUR IMPACT PRIORITIES

Our work focuses on four main impact priority areas, but we remain flexible and adaptable and support young people to address the social issues that matter to them. We recognise that our areas of impact are interconnected and intersect with each other.

Climate Justice

Young people risk losing the most from climate change, yet they are systematically excluded from conversations to address it.

We support young people to be leaders in transitioning to a just and sustainable world by strengthening youth civil society and an intergenerational response.

Explore our work in Climate Justice

Voice & Democracy

We believe more just and participatory democracies are possible, where institutions are accessible and responsive to young people.

We support young people to lead as active citizens and create change in their communities by influencing social and political structures, and those in power, with evidence-based solutions.

Explore our work in Voice and Democracy

Education & Livelihoods

We want all young people to have the skills, knowledge, resilience and opportunities that enable them to thrive.

We take a youth-led approach to ensuring that every young person has a quality education, and access to training and opportunities that set them up for life.

Explore our work in Education and Livelihoods

Gender & Sexual Rights

We know that bodies, identities, gender and sexualities are subject to discrimination and violation.

We empower young people to change attitudes and behaviours, as well as services and policies, to advance and uphold sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender equality.

Explore our work in Gender & Sexual Rights

LEVELS OF IMPACT

We look for change at four distinct levels; systemic, collective transformation, community and individual.

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

When young people lead, systems are changed for the better.

Our work has resulted in improved access to healthcare for young people in Zambia, reduced child marriage in Sierra Leone, engaged young people ahead of elections in Tanzania, and generated better banking facilities for young women in Sierra Leone.

COLLECTIVE CHANGE

Youth civil society is connected, funded, resilient and thriving.

We have many examples of how diverse youth-led organisations and movements are supported to lead change. Movements to end femicide and gender based violence have been supported in Kenya, and young people supporting each other across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COMMUNITY CHANGE

Stronger communities are built with young people contributing to ideas and solutions as equal partners.

We have supported young people to lead change within their communities – collecting real time data on landslides in Nepal, ending Ebola in Sierra Leone, and improving access to sexual health services for out-of-school adolescents in Uganda.

INDIVIDUAL CHANGE

Young people grow as leaders with skills and confidence – leading change for themselves, their peers and in communities.

In 2025 Restless Development is celebrating having reached 10 million young leaders. In every country we operate in there are local and national leaders – working across government and all sectors – whose journeys started when Restless Development provided them with the opportunity, confidence, connection and support to take up leadership roles.

Theory of Change