The A Ganar Alliance impact evaluations (IEs) are two interrelated studies designed to assess the effectiveness of the A Ganar sport-for-development program in Honduras and Guatemala, allowing USAID to compare outcomes in different contexts, increasing the external validity, or generalizability, of evaluation findings. Both evaluations utilize a mixed-methods, randomized control trial (RCT) approach to provide quantitative estimates of project impact as well as qualitative data regarding the lived experiences of beneficiaries. Both studies answer the “proof-of-concept” question: to what extent does participation in and completion of the A Ganar program increase the likelihood that youth will obtain and maintain jobs, return to school, start their own business or reduce risky behavior? It is important to note that reduction in risk behavior was not an objective of the A Ganar program, but USAID added this metric because A Ganar was working in high violence contexts and wanted to understand programmatic effects on violent/risky behaviors. Additionally, by comparing A Ganar to similar non-sports programs, the Guatemala evaluation explores whether or not sport provides additional benefits to workforce development programming. This submission contains baseline, midline, and endline data from both countries where the program was implemented, in Guatemala and Honduras.
The A Ganar program hypotheses was tested through a rigorous five-year RCT. The target population for the intervention is at-risk youth living in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Guatemala City and surrounding areas. Data was collected from six cohorts (two pilot cohorts and four evaluation cohorts), each surveyed at three distinct times between 2013 – 2016: (1) a baseline completed within two weeks of the final application interview, (2) an immediate post-program follow-up, and (3) an endline occurring 18 months after program completion. Excluding the pilot cohorts, the total sample size for the study is 3,070 respondents (1,219 in Guatemala and 1,851 in Honduras). Randomized assignment was conducted at the individual level within each local implementing organization (IO) resulting in three groups: 1,389 treatment youth (A Ganar), 410 comparison program youth (non-sports), and 1,271 control youth (no program). For endline, an attempt was made to survey all 3,070 youth. Enumeration teams were able to complete interviews with 2,593 (75 percent in Guatemala and 90 percent in Honduras) of the youth.