Conference Promotes Evidence-Based Solutions for Youth Employment

More than 200 academics, business leaders, and government ministers gathered this week for the Solutions4Work conference in Istanbul to discuss advancements made in youth employment and to plan next steps for maintaining momentum and driving further progress on the issue. Convened by the World Bank, the event highlighted achievements of two initiatives that have contributed to recent progress: the Global Partnership for Youth Employment (GPYE) and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund on Labor Markets, Job Creation, and Economic Growth (World Bank MDTF on Job Creation). 

In his opening remarks, Arup Banerji, Senior Director, Social Protection and Labor Global Practice at the World Bank, noted: “While many economies are recovering, 600 million jobs need to be crafted over the next decade to just be able to maintain today's employment rates. Building upon the rich trove of experience and knowledge we’ve developed over the past five years, we must now forge additional public-private partnerships that can increase employment, expand markets and job growth, and reduce poverty.” 

Both GPYE and the World Bank MDTF on Job Creation have built a solid foundation of knowledge that promotes evidence-based solutions to youth unemployment. Examples include Measuring Success of Youth Livelihood Interventions and Strengthening Life Skills for Youth, which were both published by the International Youth Foundation (IYF), GPYE’s global secretariat. Since 2007, the World Bank MDTF on Job Creation has supported research by the global academic and research community on key policy issues relating to job creation and poverty reduction. Through initiatives such as Skills toward Employment and Productivity, the trust fund has expanded the capacity of policymakers in developing countries to promote good practices in labor market analysis, evaluation, and policy.

To expand upon this work and address remaining challenges, a group of stakeholders that includes IYF, the World Bank, Youth Business International, Accenture, Plan International, and RAND Corporation is evaluating the need to create a global coalition dedicated to addressing youth employment. 

“Unless we build on our successes to make smarter investments in proven youth employment efforts and engage more broadly to bring hundreds of millions of young women and men into productive work, we risk losing not only this younger generation but also the next,” said IYF President and CEO Bill Reese.