Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development

All you want to know about Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development

Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (or AYAD) is a volunteer program run by the Australian government's international development agency AusAID. It places Australian citizens aged 18-30 on short term development assignments of three to twelve months in a range of developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, including Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

The program has grown from the 42 AYADs that were originally deployed in Intake 1 in March 1999, to around 400 AYADs deployed each year. Each works in a Host Organisation in a developing country, completing a specific assignment designed to assist the Host Organisation in one of a number of areas, including gender, health, governance or rural development. It also aims to improve cross-cultural understanding between young Australians and those they work with.