PYAO is a youth-led organization that was initiated in late 2011 but officially established in January 2012. The process was initiated by youth leaders and young professionals and involved consultations with youths, students, vendors, young professionals, movements, and other actors in youth work on issues affecting them and their role in addressing the identified problems. PYAO emerged following growing concerns among youths over the lack of an enabling and supportive environment for meaningful youth participation in sustainable development and poor access to sexual reproductive health and rights despite the fact that youths constitute the most proportion of the total population of Malawi. In order to realize the above change PYAO has focused on strategic interventions in thematic areas such as Human Rights and Governance; Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV/AIDS; Livelihood Security; Education; Water Sanitation and Hygiene; Climate Change and Environmental Management. PYAO recognizes that the problems facing the youth today are complex. PYAO invests in innovative ideas, convenes interested parties, shares its learning, and advocates for change in support of young people being healthy, creative, and fully engaged citizens and it envisions an inclusive society that values and supports the full engagement of vulnerable people in civic, social, economic and environmentally healthy communities