Policy Brief

Choose one of the topics to focus your policy brief on:
Marriage,
Gender, or
Youth
Executive Summary
This section outlines your main points and recommendations in less than 200 words
Background Information
In this section, you should make three to five major insights about what you see going on in terms of your
topic (marriage, gender, or youth) from the readings and materials presented in class—Fulbe Voices (“the
Domaayo” in northern Cameroon), the film “Awa” (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), Aya (Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire), and Hope is Cut (urban Ethiopia). To be convincing to State Department officials, these statements
should be backed up by specific examples with citations. Note similarities and variations across these
contexts.
Analysis of Problems or Points of Concern
Is there a problem or point of concern? Is there the potential for social conflict or unrest related to the issue?
Recommendations for U.S. Foreign Policy