Dear YES Family,

Thank you for the time you will take to read this letter. With over 2.5 billion young people in the world (85 percent of them in developing countries) we are experiencing what Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy is calling a Youth Quake. She recently argued in her column at the Dallas Morning News that ‘Without making deep structural reforms, Middle East governments will never be able to meet the employment needs of its increasingly disaffected youth a stark fact that, left unaddressed, leaves an entire generation ripe for radicalization.” Like the Middle East all developing countries are facing a ‘Youth Quake’.

But we know that governments alone cannot fill all the gaps needed in the employment generation ecology especially in developing countries which are groaning under many challenges such as - the weight of debt, civil strife, lack of governance structures, HIV/AIDS, educational reforms. It is essential that the global civil society work hand-in-glove with the governments to create the structures needed for providing youth with employment opportunities.

The stark truth is that there are not enough jobs in the private and public sectors to absorb this vast humanity of young people. The only way forward is through self employment and for that a unique structure needs to be generated from country to country … from village to village.

What is in place to make this happen?

Over the last eight years the YES Campaign has developed over 80 wonderful home-grown infrastructures called the YES Country Networks from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. These Networks are multi-stakeholder coalitions focusing on developing programs and suggesting policies for promoting youth employment. The beauty of these Networks is that they are led by young people.

So how can this be done:

What is needed is truly simple:

• Knowledge Centers that will help identify local opportunities
• Capital that will seed enterprises
• Innovation Marketplace where young people can offer their goods and services globally; as well as seek funding for their proposals

The stage is set…we now need your financial support the Global Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship called the YES Fund…say yes to youth!

Seeking your support.

Poonam Ahluwalia
President, YES Inc.
Poonam@yesweb.org