Youth’s Participation in Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The study examined youth's participation in the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Specifically, assessed their level of awareness regarding CSDP, explored their perceptions of these projects and examined the extent of their participation in CSDP. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select 150 respondents from three Local Government Areas (Nsit Ubium, Oruk Anam, and Onna), using structured questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and means, along with factor analysis, were utilized to analyze the data. Youth's awareness of CSDP was high with cluster mean of 4.33, with the highest awareness of being Skill Acquisition and Empowerment Projects (mean = 2.57). while the perception that youth involvement is essential for project success was strongly agreed upon (mean = 3.13). However, youth participation was highest in promoting CSDP activities (mean = 2.40), and lowest in monitoring project outcomes (mean = 1.90). The study concluded that youth involvement is vital for the success and sustainability of CSDP, and recommended that increased access to information and resources be provided to further enhance youth engagement in these development projects.