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Donate to the Youth Participation Fund:
(Names/Title/Institution will be listed in our conference program if entered here)
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Purpose and Background
Today's global youth population of 1.5 billion stands at a historical high, and 90% of these young people live in developing countries. The International Labour Organization's Global Employment Trends for Youth 2010 report states that 81 million of the world's 620 million economically active youth are currently unemployed, which is the highest youth unemployment rate on record. The young people who do maintain salaried employment often work for low wages, in unsafe conditions, and for shortened hours. The world is experiencing a youth employment crisis that is perpetuating cycles of poverty and preventing growth and development.
Organizations and individuals around the world are increasingly recognizing the employment challenges youth are facing, and are seeking innovative and proven solutions to support young people's efforts to obtain a decent job or start a business. As a result, more than 400 professionals from over 60 countries annually attend Making Cents' Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference to share promising practices and lessons learned, form new partnerships, and gain technical capacity in evidence-based approaches.
In just five years, this annual conference has become the premier learning event for this field. It is helping to fill critical gaps in understanding and is catalyzing new partnerships that are taking initiatives to scale and helping them to achieve sustainability. As a direct result of participating in this conference, past participants have:
- Gained new technical capacity;
- Established new partnerships;
- Gave or received invitations to submit funding proposals; and/or
- Revamped programs and policies in response to information they obtained.
After each Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference, Making Cents synthesizes the learning shared at the event to develop a practical "State of the Field" publication, which is circulated globally. The 2011 "State of the Field" publication will be published in early 2012. As of February 2011, the 2007-2009 publications had been downloaded nearly 3,000 times in 148 countries:
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