From Capacity to Participation: Marital Status, Time Poverty, and Network Exclusion in Youth Civic Engagement- Evidence from the YVF BRIDGE Project, Makonde, Zimbabwe (2020–2023)

Purpose: This study examines why capacity-building interventions fail to produce equitable leadership outcomes for young women in rural Zimbabwe. It evaluates the Youth Voices Forum (YVF) BRIDGE project in Makonde District from 2020 to 2023. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a theory-driven single-case process evaluation. This method combines descriptive quantitative patterning with qualitative mechanism tracing. The dataset included 169 questionnaires, 24 semi-structured interviews with young women, 10 life-history vignettes, 15 key informant interviews, and project registers. Findings: This analysis integrates Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (power distance, collectivism, and masculinity) with social norms and household bargaining frameworks. The results show that household permission, caregiving time-poverty, reputational sanctions, and male-dominated networks reduce young married women's participation, despite training. On average, married young women attended 30–40% fewer sessions than their unmarried peers. They also held less than 20% of youth leadership positions. These mechanisms compound and create severe multiplicative disadvantages for married caregivers. Research limitations/implications: These findings advance the theory of mechanism-level interruption in social accountability programs. They proved that capacity building alone was insufficient. Interventions must directly address mediating cultural and domestic conditions to convert capacity into active participation. Practical implications: This study proposes culturally attuned adaptations, including male engagement, flexible meeting times, on-site childcare, transport support, peer networks, and nomination targets. These were paired with clear monitoring indicators. Pilot adaptations yielded a 10–15% relative increase in female attendance and improved willingness to take on leadership roles. Originality/value:This study applied Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to process evaluation. This study provides a novel comparative framework for tracing household and community gatekeeping. These findings offer actionable guidance for gender-transformative youth civic engagement in the rural sub-Saharan context