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Context: There are currently 1 billion youth (ages 15-24) on the planet, 850 million of whom live in developing countries with minimal infrastructure to support education and employment preparation. There are also 1.5 billion children (ages 14 and younger) waiting to flood the labor market unprepared to become part of the productive workforce. Young people in the developing world have limited access to education, skills training, and self-employment opportunities. These countries' labor markets are not equipped to put youth to work. Consequently, while the global youth population is expected to increase by 50 percent in the next 30 years [1], the number of unemployed youth is projected to quadruple [2] during this same time period.
Opportunity: Participating in the YES Fund activities will promoting entrepreneurship and provide an incentive to build a marketplace of business development, credit and other services in our YES Network countries. This marketplace of entrepreneurial services is essential since we know that there are not enough jobs in the private and public sectors to absorb the millions of young people who are in the labor market in developing countries.
[1] Population Reference Bureau, 2005 World Population Data Sheet, http://www.prb.org/pdf05/05WorldDataSheet_Eng.pdf
[2] UN News Centre, "Global Youth Unemployment Skyrockets to All-time High, Action Needed," August 11, 2004, www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=11604
The Twin Opportunities |
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Developing countries currently face two sets of pressing problems: |
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Sector Development Needs |
- Renewable Energy: 2 billion need energy
- Water & Sanitation: 2.5 billion people lack access to clean water and sanitation
- Rural Development: 60% of the developing world still live in rural areas
- Information & Communication Technologies: barely 2% of the world population has internet access
- HIV/Aids: 95% of the estimated 38 million people infected with HIV live in developing countries
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Sector Development Needs |
- 1 billion young people between the ages of 15-24 years, 850 million of these are living in developing countries
- 1.5 billion children behind them 85 percent in developing countries
- 3 billion live on less than $1 a day, 50 percent are young people
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Imagine if we could solve both of these problems at once? |
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