Solution Sessions
The YEO Solution Session webinars continue the Global Youth Economic Opportunity Summit’s tradition of convening subject matter experts around key youth employment topics through honest dialogue about pressing issues, practical tools, and evidence-based solutions. The webinars will lay the groundwork for the Regional YEO Convening and Global YEO Summit, highlighting critical issues for young people entering and rising through the workforce. These topical discussions will underscore individual, organizational, and collective action required to achieve SDG 8 decent work and economic growth for young people.
Lead Solution Sessions are co-created and curated by Making Cents and partner organizations.
Expanding Self-Employment through the Informal Economy
Date: November 18, 2021
Africa’s informal economy provides youth both opportunities, as they can find livelihoods with low barriers to entry, and challenges, as they tend to find little more than low-wage, temporary work. If the informal economy is to meaningfully contribute to SDG 8, we must better understand the fundamental system levers and how they can be moved to provide a better solution for youth employment and career advancement.
Hosted by Harambee South Africa, with Shujaaz Kenya and Rwanda Employment Accelerator
Addressing Environment and Climate Change, Empowering Youth, and Rebuilding Economies—The Role of Green Jobs
Date: November 30, 2021
According to the ILO, a just transition to a greener economy could create 24 million new jobs globally by 2030. Seizing these opportunities for youth will require rapid upskilling through changes in higher education and expansion of corporate training programs. Many Southeast Asian countries are leading the way in this area and offer lessons for all of us to expand climate action (SDG 11) and the potential of green jobs to accelerate progress towards employment for all (SDG 8).
Hosted by FHI 360, with ILO, GE (TBC), and the Burma Agriculture & Food Systems Development Activity
Leveraging Social Impact Bonds and Innovative Finance for Youth Employment
Date: December 1, 2021
A large and growing market for impact investment and other innovative mechanisms provides new sources of financing that can help address some of the systemic challenges faced by the world’s youth. In this session, we will hear from experts in structuring alternative financing mechanisms, such as social impact bonds and blended finance vehicles, along with a private enterprise. Each of these mechanisms were tested in the youth space and aim to sustainably address the youth unemployment crisis.
Hosted by CRS, other partners TBD
Disruptive Models to Increase Employability of Young Job Seekers
Date: December 2, 2021
Youth in the Western Balkans face high unemployment rates due to weak economic growth and the pandemic. Responding effectively requires understanding the local workforce system and designing innovative cost-effective solutions that local entities see the value in replicating. This session will describe lessons learned in designing and offering market-oriented and inclusive training through pay-for-performance models as well as more effective career guidance provided through media outlets and career centers.
Hosted by Helvetas, with betaPlan Coding Bootcamps Albania and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy North Macedonia
Innovative Financing for Workforce Development
Date: December 7, 2021
Skills development and the support networks needed to foster a young person’s economic success in a rapidly evolving modern economy are expensive. To help youth reach full and productive employment, we must continue to explore innovative and sustainable financing models for youth skill development and support networks. This session will present three proven, sustainable, and innovative financing models for youth workforce development in Ecuador, Ethiopia, and Rwanda that can be replicated to advance SDG 8 globally.
Hosted by Palladium, with Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Chancen International
Past solution session recordings by thematic area, can be found here.