YES Campaign has built a powerful platform, placing the issue of youth employment on the global agenda. With YES country network leaders, YES devises, implements, and evaluates projects around the globe, drawing from network “effective practices” to develop new ideas to enrich the program. This includes identifying five emerging development sectors from the UN MDGs: renewable energy, water and sanitation, rural development, information and communication technologies, and HIV/AIDS. Further, YES Campaign has differentiated itself through a specific set of principles and activities, keeping youth at the center of its efforts:

• Views youth as true partners in development, rather than as beneficiaries
• Encourages youth to organize multi-stakeholder, country networks
• Builds the commitment of world leaders and institutions to confront the challenge of youth unemployment by developing strategic partnerships
• Transforms that leadership commitment into tangible investments in innovative, employment-generation strategies
• Maintains a web-based, Global Knowledge Resource – a free, technology platform that disseminates labor market knowledge and “best practices” for individuals, networks, and partners through a range of traditional and new-media technologies (print, conferences, e-groups, CD ROM, and video)
• Provides youth with opportunities to build leadership, management and entrepreneurial skills in the context of sustainable development

By enlisting youth participation in creating viable employment alternatives in their home countries, the YES Campaign has validated the concept that young people, if given access to the right resources, can effectively craft their own opportunities for advancement and growth in labor markets while simultaneously addressing development needs. Toward this end, the YES Campaign has made significant strides in three key areas.

Infrastructure and Capacity Building

• Hosted the world’s first three Global Youth Employment Summits: Alexandria, Egypt in 2002 (participation of 100 government ministries and 2,000 civil society organizations) and Veracruz, Mexico in 2004 (1,500 delegates including senior government ministers), Nairobi, Kenya in 2006 (2000 delegates, including government ministers and NGOs).
• Established 83 youth-led country networks since 2002 to promote policy, programs, and activities, including 7 networks in conflict zones
• Appointed 6 regional coordinators and a global manager to oversee network activities and communicate “best practices” when identifying and mobilizing resources
• Organized 65 national consultations to bring networks together with diverse stakeholders (government, private sector, NGOs, and educational institutions)
• Hosted first Asian Regional Forum for Youth Employment in Hyderabad, India, in 2003 with 48 countries represented and 1,000 delegates
• Hosted the first Latin American Regional Forum in Asunción, Paraguay in 2005 with 25 countries and 300 delegates represented.

Programs and Employment Creation

• Oversee 400 programs globally, 150 of which were launched since 2004 and are focused primarily on the five development sectors
• Focused 60 percent of programs on education and capacity-building, 30 percent on employment creation, and 10 percent on policy-making and awareness-building
• Launched the YES Academy, the first international institution for youth employment project development now sponsoring 10 projects in partnership with UN agencies and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India
• Developed global database of effective youth employment resources and toolkits

Partners and Funders

• Formalized pro-youth government policies in 60 percent of existing networks
• Established high-level partnerships with UN agencies in 30 countries and with 25 major international organizations (World Bank, EC, GEF, OECD, IADB, OAS, USAID, SIDA, SDC, ILO)
• Secured support from large private sector corporations including Levi-Strauss and Microsoft
• Raised an average of $5 million per continent to support network activities and over $2.5 million from the Government of India alone

Early steps toward a YES Fund

Though the YES Fund is the first of its kind in addressing youth employment globally through targeted investments in entrepreneurs, it is an extension of a proven YES Campaign model. Youth leaders have adopted the YES approach to provoking positive social change. For instance, in 2005, YES Guyana launched a program called Youth Employment Spark (“Spark”), which illustrates the power of using small grants to fund big ideas. Further, the project’s objectives and methodology demonstrates the strength of an entrepreneurship-focused model, namely:

• Presenting entrepreneurship as a viable and attractive career opportunity among youth
• Demonstrating to stakeholders (banks, funding agencies, and governments) that supporting youth entrepreneurship is a promising investment as it supports new businesses, engages youth positively, and spurs reinvestment in communities
• Showcasing best practices (i.e. mentorship approach) and facilitating information-sharing

Spark is an initiative of the Dutch National Youth Council and four youth organizations. The project funds five young entrepreneurs from different countries as they establish their businesses. In June 2005, the project funded youth from Guyana, South Africa, the Philippines, Turkey and the Netherlands under the supervision of a youth organization and the guidance of a mentor.

Various stakeholders, including youth, follow the experiences and progress of the entrepreneurs through an in interactive website (www.youthspark.org) and monthly online magazine. These tools also enable the Spark team to post specific outcomes and effective practices in each participating country and to create a database of interested mentors and financial supporters to fund future initiatives. The project also enables selected entrepreneurs to obtain normal business loans at local banks or microfinance institutions (MFIs) in increments of 5,000 euros. The entrepreneurs follow the normal business procedures for applying for a 36-month loan with the bank or MFI, which include specific plan targets and guarantee conditions.

The project was expanded in 2006. It provided business advice to 120 prospective entrepreneurs in the first selection period and business management and operations training for 25 of those candidates during the second round before selecting five new businesses to fund. The YES Fund hopes to leverage and learn from the experience of this project.