Fostering a Global Spirit of Youth Enterprise

Kirsty Baker Preparatory Briefing Paper for Delegates of the Global Forum on Youth Entrepreneurship November 2008

Given the right circumstances, the entrepreneurial spirit can be sparked within any society bringing a spirit of internal empowerment.
Transforming the Development Landscape The Brookings Institution, 20061

Front cover: Xu Jianguo, a Chinese noodlemaker who was able to set up his business with the support of Youth Business China part of the Youth Business International network.

Key Messages
1. Youth unemployment is an urgent and significant issue that must be addressed. 2. Youth enterprise presents a solution that can help address youth unemployment, foster a spirit of enterprise, and expand economic opportunity to millions of young people, their families and their communities. 3. Partnership and collaboration across the public, private and civic sectors is vital to ensure success. 4. Best practice exists and needs to be better understood, evaluated and then scaled and replicated.

Executive Summary
It is projected that by 2015 there will be three billion people in the world under 25 years of age.3 These young people will play a crucial role in the worlds ability or failure to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Well-educated, healthy and productive young people who are actively engaged in their communities offer one of our greatest hopes for creating a more secure, and prosperous future. At present, this potential is not being met globally. Young people are currently about three times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population. Many lack access to decent education, employment options or entrepreneurial opportunities. Unless tackled as a matter of urgency by leaders in all sectors government, business and civil society - this growing deficit of work opportunities is likely to lead to increasing social instability and economic insecurity. The global challenge of youth unemployment is both significant and growing. It is a multifaceted challenge that requires more than one solution. Young people are at risk at several key life transitions, any of which may lead to a decline or increase in realising their human capital and potential. How will society ensure that these young people have the chance to find decent and productive work that at a minimum pays a living wage and ideally enables them to create new wealth and jobs for others? The current youth unemployment rate is higher than the adult equivalent and is increasing relatively, yet given the current youth bulge, we live in a time of unprecedented opportunity to focus on the future potential of youth and to take action now which will help to turn the situation around. Education, employment, enterprise and equal opportunities are all interrelated streams of activity which can help to bring the social and economic benefits of increased employment and enterprise for both society and for business.4 Many sources have stated that the current challenge cannot be addressed through policy alone. In a time when businesses are increasing their role in the community, collaboration between public, private and third sectors can help to maximise the success of development activity targeted at youth employment and enterprise. Whilst the solution may appear to be more difficult in the current macroeconomic climate, the challenge remains the same and for the millions of unemployed young people around the world, there is an obligation on us all to act now. This paper outlines the current challenge of youth unemployment and explores the role that youth enterprise can play in addressing this challenge, before examining the opportunities for public and private sector collaboration to achieve meaningful social and economic change. The paper draws on examples of existing collaborative youth enterprise initiatives suggesting how these may be replicable and scalable. The paper provides a summary of some of the existing literature, research and best practice to position all participants at the 2008 Global Forum on Youth Entrepreneurship for a stimulating, serious, innovative and above all action oriented discussion.

Next Steps
Following the Global Forum in November 2008, the paper will be updated with the outcome of discussions, and will present a set of recommendations for business leaders and policy makers and an agenda for collaborative action to foster a global spirit of youth enterprise.

Contents
Part 1: Maximising the Human Capital of Youth Youth Employment and Enterprise Challenges Definition of Terms Youth Employment and Enterprise Opportunities Youth Employment at a Glance Part 2: Youth Employment in Context Why Does Youth Unemployment Matter? Why Does Youth Unemployment Matter to Business? Why Does Youth Enterprise Offer a Solution to Youth Unemployment? Part 3: Mobilising for Action How Partnership Can Play a Role: Perspective and Examples of Leading Practice An Agenda for Action Business Action An Agenda for Action Public Sector Action An Agenda for Action Third Sector Action 13 18 19 19 10 11 12 4 5 6 8

Summary Acknowledgements Further References Endnotes About Youth Business International About the Author

20 20 21 22 23 23

Opposite: South African entrepreneur Makoekie Tsotetsi, who set up construction company Impota Trading with the help of Umsobomvu Youth Fund part of the Youth Business International network of organisations supporting young entrepreneurs. 3

Part 1: Maximising the Human Capital of Youth Youth Employment and Enterprise Challenges
There is growing recognition of a current need to build a stronger global base of human capital. Increasing opportunities to earn a living wage and developing human capital to take advantage of these opportunities is cited as critical by the World Banks World Development Report 2007.5 Because labour is the main asset of the poor, making it more productive is the best way to reduce poverty.6 This requires enhancing the opportunities to earn money and developing the human capital to take advantage of these opportunities. Broad-based economic growth is important. So is providing basic education and healthcare, especially for children to provide the foundation for basic skills and well-being. Doing both has brought significant progress. A critical element of this human capital challenge is the youth demographic. It is projected that by 2015 there will be three billion people in the world under 25 years of age. With young people currently around three times more likely to be unemployed than adults, the growing deficit of work opportunities is likely to lead to increasing social and economic uncertainty. Whilst progress is being made against Millennium Development Goal 1 to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, there is still a long way to go to reduce the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people (Target 1B of MDG 1). The world is facing a jobs crisis, especially for youth. This is likely to be exacerbated by the current financial crisis. cycle from youth to adulthood, to the next generation and to tackle the cycle of insufficient education, low productivity employment, and poverty from one generation to the next. However, youth are not a homogenous group, and strategies to tackle youth labour market challenges cannot be uniformly applied within and across countries.7 Young people in one country cannot be directly compared with young people in another country in terms of the opportunities and constraints that face them. Equally, even within one country, young people may face different opportunities and constraints, with certain groups facing specific challenges in entering the workplace e.g. young migrants, young women, youth in rural areas and young refugees. What is important to remember is that despite the individual characteristics that make up each young person, where youth are equal to one another is in their right to strive for and obtain full and productive employment.8 Within this challenge, there are several key points in the lives of young people that are significant in terms of their role in shaping the young persons life. The World Banks World Development Report 2007 highlights these five life transitions for youth as: 1. Learning after primary school age What young people learn early in life lasts a lifetime and is much harder to master as adults. Providing young people with quality education and helping then to complete further education beyond primary school brings societal and individual gains. 2. Starting a productive working life When young people reach a point where they have skills that can be utilised, it is important that they can deploy them well. Activity needs to focus on preventing young people from starting work too early; helping young people to break into the job market and helping them to move to new jobs and up the skills ladder. 3. Adopting a healthy lifestyle Whilst mortality rates among young people are low, this does not reflect the behaviour adopted by many young people that puts their health at risk later on. Reducing risk-taking among youth requires that they have the information and the capacity to make and act on decisions. 4. Forming a family In most countries, the entry into parenthood takes place during youth. The ability and willingness of young parents to invest in their children is the single most important factor determining the outcomes for future generations. Nutrition and reproductive health services are among the most important human capital investments that prepare young people to become the next generation of parents. 5. Exercising citizenship Youth is the period when people begin to be heard and recognised outside their family. If they are not given opportunities for productive citizenship, frustration may lead to violent behaviour, leading in turn to social and economic instability.9 At each of these transitions, there is the opportunity to improve the outlook for young people, and youth enterprise / entrepreneurship can play a significant role in this. The transitions may overlap with a young person experiencing one or more transition concurrently, meaning that policies that have an impact on one transition may equally affect others. This paper focuses on youth enterprise and entrepreneurship as part of the overall solution to youth unemployment, underemployment and the working poor, and outlines the role it can play in helping to ensure positive outcomes from these life transitions.

A Multifaceted Challenge
Whilst in some respects the challenge of youth unemployment may seem straightforward, and a matter of creating more jobs for unemployed young people, it is in fact multifaceted. There is an urgent need to break the continuing poverty

Definition of terms as used in this paper

Enterprise There are 4 classes of enterprise: Microenterprise* Small to Medium Enterprise Large-scale national enterprises Multinational firms *Microenterprise is on the frontline of poverty alleviation. Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the practice of organising, operating and assuming the risk for a business venture.10 Focus Categories Unemployed: where people are not in paid employment but are available for work and seeking work. Underemployed: where people work parttime but want to work more hours. Discouraged: people in situations where they have given up on the job search. Working poor: people at the US$1 a day level. A person is counted as working poor only if that person is unable to lift himself or herself and his or her family above the poverty threshold.11 Human Capital Human capital is the attributes of a person that are productive in some economic context. Often refers to formal educational attainment, with the implication that education is investment whose returns are in the form of wage, salary, or other compensation. These are normally measured and conceived of as private returns to the individual but can also be social returns.12 Micro-credit and Micro-finance Micro-credit is the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.13 In developing countries especially, micro-credit enables very poor people to engage in self-employment projects that generate income. Microfinance also comprises other financial products such as micro-insurance and micro-savings. Typically micro-credit institutions lend relatively small amounts of money to relatively large numbers of people, often to groups or collectives rather than individuals, and will often charge above-bank interest rates. Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the worlds main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. The eight MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.14 Private sector The part of a nations economy that is not controlled by the Government i.e. business.15 Public sector The part of the economy concerned with providing basic government services. The composition of the public sector varies by country, but in most countries the public sector includes such services as the police, military, public roads, public transit, primary education and healthcare for the poor. The public sector might provide services that non-payers cannot be excluded from (such as street lighting), services which benefit all of society rather than just the individual who uses the service (such as public education), and services that encourage equal opportunity.16 Third Sector Organisations that are established on a not-for-profit basis, and that are not directly controlled by the state (not part of the public sector) are widely referred to as third sector organisations (TSOs). This definition includes not just the voluntary and community sector, but also trade unions, not-for-profit trade associations, political organisations, most cooperatives and social enterprises (provided profits are retained for the benefit of the members or community served), private clubs, most sports organisations, places of worship, grant-making trusts, etc.17 Youth 14 24 is the widely accepted statistical convention for youth (see UN, 1992)18. However YBI expands this definition to 18 35 to allow for the key times at which young people enter into the world of employment. Youth Enterprise Programmes Key global aims of youth employment and youth enterprise programmes: Creating youth employment opportunities Mitigating youth vulnerabilities Creating role models and positive examples Fostering social cohesion and economic stability

Poverty elimination is impossible unless the economy generates opportunities for investment, entrepreneurship, job creation and sustainable livelihoods. The principal route out of poverty is work.
Working out of Poverty. ILO, 2003.

Youth Employment and Enterprise Opportunities

Growth in the global youth population continues to outpace that of employment19, creating a challenge in terms of youth unemployment. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 2006 Trends Report, youth are far more likely to be unemployed than adults; youth unemployment can be 2-6 times higher than adult unemployment rates depending on the region.20 The ILO cites several likely explanations on both the demand- and the supply-side (see box opposite). These factors (and others) work together to result in the proportion of unemployed youth in the youth labour force being significantly higher than the proportion of unemployed adults in the adult labour force. of the fall in fertility rates. For developed countries, this fertility transition occurred so long ago that the bulge is composed of the middle-aged, the baby boomersin most developing countries, the number of young people is peaking or will peak in the next 10 years. Others, including all of Sub-Saharan African, Afghanistan, Iraq, West Bank and Gaza, and the Republic of Yemen, will not hit the peak for 20 years or more. These numbers can be a fiscal and economic risk, but (they) can also be an opportunity.this expansion of a workforce that has fewer children and elderly to support provides a window of opportunity to spend on other things, such as building human capital. The window of falling dependency rates can stay open for up to 40 years, depending on the rate of fertility decline. Then aging closes it.22 intervention through education to help ensure young people are able to make decisions well. Whilst progress is being made against the Millennium Development Goals, the dramatic rise in the number of children completing primary school (a Millennium Development Goal) belies the fact that many are unable to read or write and are also unprepared for the practicalities of daily life.23 Against this backdrop, young people may have many additional core learning needs before they are able to successfully enter the world of work that pays a decent living wage, and supporting them through this life transition (as previously outlined in this report) can be a critical success factor.

A Unique Opportunity
According to the World Banks World Development Report 200721, we are currently in a unique time because of demographic changes around the world. Today 1.5 billion people are ages 12-24 worldwide, 1.3 billion of them in developing countries, the most ever in history. This number will rise but not by much more, because it is fast approaching a plateau as fertility rates decline, producing a bulge in the worlds population structure. Perhaps as important as this bulge is the diversity in age structures across the worlds countries, due to differences in the timing

Education
The youth bulge presents a window of opportunity to spend on other things such as building human capital (as there are fewer children and elderly to support). The World Development Report 2007 is built on the premise that if youth makes decisions about transitions well, they will develop, safeguard and properly deploy human capital, but if made badly the consequences will be very costly to correct. There is therefore a need to focus on early

Equal Opportunities
Young people may need assistance with childcare, physical protection, access to financial services, mentoring and guidance, and life skills amongst other support to help them enter productive employment. According to the UN, life skills are the large group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills that can help [youth] make informed decisions, communicate effectively and develop coping and self-management skills that may help them lend a healthy and productive life.24 In general, organisations working in this field aim to encourage equality of opportunity, however there are different gender, social and ethnic, and geographic issues in different countries. These need to be carefully balanced, to minimise the risk of exclusion from opportunity. Whilst there is a requirement for sustained, coherent and concerted action on a combination of economic and social policies to promote equity of opportunity25, policy alone is not enough to address the challenge. There is a need for concerted, collaborative action from public, private and third sector organisations to provide opportunities for young people, and mechanisms to allow them to be actively employed.

Window closed Japan Italy Window will close < 10 years China Chile Window will close > 10 years India Bolivia Window has not yet open Afghanistan Uganda 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015 2025 2035 2045 Source: United Nations 2005 World Population Prospect - 2004 revision.
Note: Bars show the range of years for which the dependency rationthe number of dependents relative to people of working ageis falling

Year of peak youth population

There is a need for an integrated approach which combines supportive macro-economic policies and targeted measures, and addresses labour demand and supply, as well as the quantity and quality of employment.
International Labour Conference, 2005 findings

Why are youth unemployment rates higher than adult unemployment rates?
The last in, first out explanation. Youth are more vulnerable than adults in difficult economic times. They are likely to have less work experience than adults. Assuming that employers seek employees with past experience, the young person with less experience will find it harder to find employment. Hence in times of labour over-supply the young person will be the last in. Similarly, because a young person is likely to have less tenure than an adult worker, less company funds invested in them and a temporary contract, it will be considered cheaper to let the younger worker go in times of economic downturns. Thus, young workers will be the first out. The lack of job search expertise explanation. A young person often lacks both labour market information and job search experience. In many developing countries, it is principally through informal placement methods typically through families and friends that a young person finds work. Beyond this word of mouth approach, the young person simply might not know how and where to look for work. Adults, on the other hand, have the possibility of finding future work through references from previous employers or colleagues and are more likely to know the right people through bigger networks. The shopping around explanation. In an ideal situation, a person might choose to take longer to shop around for the right job, meaning they might wait longer to find work that suits their requirements. This, however, implies that a support structure, such as the family, exists to economically support them while they search for work. In low-income countries, this support structure does not exist for the majority of young people and as a result, a young person simply cannot afford to be unemployed and is likely to take whatever work becomes available, regardless of working conditions or whether or not the job fits his / her education or skills-base. The lack of mobility explanation. Young people just starting out in the labour force are unlikely to have the financial resources to re-locate, nationally or internationally, in pursuit of work. Because many will continue to depend on household support, their job search threshold will be limited to the nearby vicinity of the family home. The measurement explanation. Inactivity among young people is increasing. Conversely, the labour force of youth, and thus the denominator of the youth employment rate calculation, is shrinking in many parts of the world as more young people are enrolled in education or staying in the education system for longer periods of time or dropping out of the labour force as discouraged workers. There has not been a similar shrinkage of the adult labour force, which means that the gap between the youth and the adult unemployment rates would grow.

Distribution of the youth and adult populations by activity status, 2005 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

adult youth adult youth adult youth adult youth adult youth adult youth adult youth adult youth Developed Central and Economies Eastern Europe and European (non-EU) Inactive Unemployment East Asia South Asia South East Latin America Asia and the and the Pacific Caribbean Middle East and North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa

Employed

Source: ILO, GLobal Employment Trends (GET) Model, 2006

Youth Employment at a Glance: Global Trends

(Reproduced with permission from Global Employment Trends for Youth 2005, ILO)

There are an estimated 125 million young working poor, meaning more than 20 per cent of employed youth lived in a household where there was less than US$1 a day available per head in 2005.

Global Trends
The global youth labour force, which is the sum of the employed youth and unemployed youth, grew from 602 to 633 million (by 5.2 per cent) between 1995 and 2005 and is projected to grow by another 24 million to 657 million in 2015. The share of the youth labour force in the youth population (the youth labour force participation rate) decreased globally from 58.9 to 54.7 per cent between 1995 and 2005, which means that in 2005 only every second young person was actively participating in labour markets around the world. The number of young unemployed increased from 74 million to 85 million between 1995 and 2005, an increase of 14.8 per cent. The youth unemployed make up almost half (43.7 per cent) of the worlds total unemployed despite the fact that, in comparison, the youth share of the total working-age population (ages 15 and over) was only 25.0 per cent. There are an estimated 125 million young working poor, meaning more than 20 per cent of employed youth lived in a household where there was less than US$1 a day available per head in 2005. There were approximately 300 million young working poor at the US$2 a day level more than one half of all young women and men who worked in the same year.

Some Regional Trends

As much as 89 per cent of the worlds youth were living in developing economies in 2005. Youth labour force growth will continue to be concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and the Pacific, and in the Middle East and North Africa regions where insufficient economic demand already results in significant unemployment rates for youth. Most regions saw increases in the number of unemployed youth between 1995 and 2005. The largest increase of 85.5 per cent (from 5.2 to 9.7 million) was in South East Asia and the Pacific, followed by 34.2 per cent (from 13.0 to 17.4 million) in sub-Saharan Africa, 23.0 per cent (from 7.7 to 9.5 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean, 18.2 per cent (from 7.2 to 8.5 million) in the Middle East and North Africa, and 16.1 per cent in South Asia (from 11.8 to 13.7 million). Working poverty among youth is most alarming for sub-Saharan Africa, the only region that has seen a sharp and continuous increase in the total number of youth working poor at the US$1 a day level (from 36 million to 45 million between 1995 and 2005). Extreme working poverty is also still a big problem in South Asia, where almost 4 out of 10 young people work but remain poor. But at least the trend has shown some improvement in the region; ten years ago, almost 6 out of 10 young working people were US$1 a day working poor, which was almost as much as sub-Saharan Africa. Youth US$2 a day working poverty decreased most in the regions of Central and Eastern Europe (non-EU) and CIS and in East Asia. In South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa only one out of ten young people earn enough to lift themselves together with their families above the threshold of US$2 a day.

Bolivian entrepreneur Ramiro Velsquez, 23, set up a flower growing company called Claveles del Sur after receiving a US$1000 loan from Innova Emprendimientos Sociales, an organisation that is part of the Youth Business International network. 9

Part 2: Youth Employment in Context Why Does Youth Unemployment Matter?

Beyond generating profits, however, the private sector can also make a businessbased vital contribution to youth development.
International Business Leaders Forum 200633

The current situation of youth unemployment and underemployment presents both risks and opportunities for society. Tackling the youth unemployment challenge offers enormous potential for addressing the development agenda. Youth are the drivers of economic development in a country and given the current youth bulge the opportunity for action is unprecedented. Based on current predictions cited in the World Development Report 2007, the number of 12 to 14 year-olds in developing countries will reach a maximum in 2035 and decline only gradually thereafter.26 Whilst this hides distinct regional trends e.g. the relative size of youth population is declining in most of the developing world, the overall trend and creation of a youth bulge is significant.

The system in my countrydoes not track down those [who] drop out in time to ensure that they do not end up becoming a liability to the world. That is what is happening here, thousands of young people walking aimlessly in the streets [with no] jobs, no social services, and therefore nothing. Chernor, 21, Sierra Leone, September 200528 Given the current youth bulge the window of opportunity for youth-focussed action that will bring economic and social benefits both nationally and internationally is limited. As the demographic window of opportunity for youth closes in each region, the focus will move away from youth, to how to ensure adequate and sustainable old age income support.

Opportunities
Focussing on youth makes sense to a country from a cost-benefits point of view: idle youth is a costly group. Additionally, halving the current global youth unemployment rate could substantially boost economic growth in developing countries.29 Increasing GDP leads to a decrease in crime rates, which in turn increases tourism and foreign direct investment. Providing young people with employment and enterprise opportunities can contribute to human development objectives, such as improved health, and can reduce the likelihood that young people will engage in harmful activities. Giving young people the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty enables them to take steps to break the poverty cycle which continues from generation to generation. Contributing productively to society also fosters civic responsibility and social justice. Together these factors can have a significant impact on the development of a specific country.

Risks
Where youth unemployment is not successfully reduced, the risks to health, social welfare and economies are significant. Under-utilised and under-valued, young people become a high cost to society. In the Middle East and North African region for example, which faces many risks of conflict and extremism, 60 percent of the population is under the age of 24 and faces bleak employment prospects. Some 100 million jobs have to be created in the next 20 years just to absorb new entrants to the job market and another 20 million to reduce the present level of unemployment. (HRH The Prince of Wales speaking at the United Nations, New York, 1st November 2005). When young people experience a prolonged period of unemployment, they become discouraged with remaining in the labour market and are more likely to end up out of school and out of work. When there are limited productive opportunities for young people, they are more likely to end up in activities that are damaging to themselves and to society, for example crime, drug misuse and civil unrest. Additionally, in such situations, young people do not develop their full human capital potential.27 10

Why Does Youth Unemployment Matter to Business?

Private enterprise belongs at the very centre of the development enterprise. By generating jobs, serving the underserved, promoting innovation, and spurring productivity, indigenous private sector development can raise living standards and promote opportunity.
The Brookings Institution, 2005
34

Youth unemployment also presents risks and opportunities specifically for business. In the longer term, economic growth, poverty reduction and social development are desirable for society as a whole, and they also contribute to a healthy and sustainable business environment.30 The International Business Leaders Forums paper, Business and Youth in the Arab World identifies the following business benefits of regional action on youth employment and enterprise development, which are largely applicable across all regions: Strengthening corporate reputation Gaining access to untapped markets Enhancing operational effectiveness Attracting and retaining employees Developing a local skills base Improving access to finance

Opportunities for business

Businesses face many opportunities if they engage with youth employment and enterprise. In addition to the benefits outlined above, businesses may realize competitive advantage, strengthened networks and increased stakeholder value. The potential reach of corporate social investment is huge. Some estimate the philanthropic resources of the top fifty companies as being equal to the United Nations Development Programmes annual operating budget of US$4 billion.31 This creates a significant opportunity for impact, especially when allied to businesss core activities and capabilities. There are multiple ways for companies to engage in youth development. Businesses have opportunities to support youth employment and enterprise development through their core business activities; philanthropy and social investment; by acting as advocates of change and through involvement in public policy. However it is important to realise that business cannot achieve the change needed by acting alone. There is a danger in some cases that too much is being expected of business, especially in light of the competitive pressures and operational constraints faced by even the largest global corporations. It is crucial, therefore, to emphasize that even the most profitable, responsible and innovative business practices can achieve little in tackling global poverty in the absence of good government, underpinned by political will and public interest.32

Risks to business
The risks associated with not harnessing the human capital of youth can be significant. Businesses run the risk of unsustainable growth and of precipitating unhealthy social and economic environments if they do not act. Investment in youth enterprise can help create social and economic value which will otherwise remain untapped. Fortunately, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity relating to youth enterprise is both aligned with many companies key business challenges particularly the source of talent labour; and with core business capabilities namely the management of people and encouraging them to be innovative. To ignore youth enterprise may therefore limit a companys potential to tackle these core business challenges but businesses should equally be well placed for action.

11

Path to self employment

Business Idea Feasability Study Training Business Planning Finance Start Up Finance for Growth

Source: Youth Business International

Why Does Youth Enterprise Offer a Solution to Youth Unemployment?

It is estimated that at least 20 per cent of unemployed and underemployed young people have the potential to become entrepreneurs, less than 5 per cent do. One way of tackling this unacceptable waste of energy and resources is to help young people into self employment.
Youth Business International37

Youth enterprise provides a high potential solution to the global challenge of youth unemployment and underemployment with both economic and social advantages. Additionally, enterprise can act as a stepping stone for young people towards other forms of sustainable employment. Whilst micro-credit schemes operate to move people from poverty to subsistence, enterprise development schemes operate to move people from subsistence to sustainable growth through encouraging youth entrepreneurship. This has a larger knock-on effect in terms of providing additional employment, invigorating supply chains and creating social role models. The Path to Self Employment The path to setting up a small business usually follows a typical route, from conceiving an initial idea, through to investigating, planning and raising the finance for it (see diagram above). There are opportunities at each stage for collaborative action between business, public sector and third sector organisations. Enterprise and entrepreneurship also offers opportunities for youth in terms of employment, enterprise, education and equal opportunities.

Measurable Impact Enterprise is an extremely measurable human activity in all its interventions. Measuring the impact of interventions to increase enterprise is more black and white than some other measures, e.g. number of businesses registered, number of businesses trading, volume of turnover etc. In an environment where return on investment must be demonstrated, this ability to show output can help to leverage additional resources.

Social Advantages of Youth Enterprise

Skills Development Youth enterprise raises skills levels among young people. Young people need to learn to decide well. Their decision making may not always be rational and their search for identity and influence among their peer groups may go some way to explaining their attitude to risk. Enterprise can help to develop these critical skills and can also open opportunities for young people to be heard outside the family, as well as strengthening negotiating positions in families and among peers. Successfully mastering these skills can lead to a great increase in self-confidence, whilst the enterprise provides tangible evidence of success. Equality of Opportunity Socially, promoting and enabling youth enterprise provides opportunities for those who would not otherwise have them. The self-employed are generally less educated and poorer than employees. Women make up about one-third of the self-employed entrepreneurs and about one-quarter of the employers.35 Self-employment may also be a more viable opportunity for young people with disabilities. Multiplier Effect Effective youth entrepreneur support programmes generate multiplier effects: young entrepreneurs create their own livelihood and provide jobs, by some estimates, for two or three of their peers36 as well as positively impacting upon the lives of their families.

Many youth are becoming entrepreneurs more out of need, than due to personal preference.
IDB, 200638

Economic Advantages of Youth Enterprise

Value Creation Youth enterprise creates value. It is the ability to create value greater than the resources you start with. Ensuring that youth enterprise creates this additional value in a non-wasteful and sustainable way is one key element in addressing youth unemployment. Resource Maximization Overall there is an economic argument for resource maximisation. This is particularly relevant at the local geographical level e.g. for developing countries facing social deprivation. Young entrepreneurs require relatively minimal inputs to achieve significant outputs, which can be of benefit to themselves and the communities in which they are based.

12

Part 3: Mobilising for Action How Partnership Can Play a Role: Context and Examples of Leading Practice
Young people and their families make the decision but policies and institutions also affect the risks, the opportunities and ultimately the outcomes.
World Development Report 200741

Context
Millennium Development Goal 8 highlights the need to develop a global partnership for development. HRH The Prince of Wales commented that the employment gap can only be filled through partnerships between the private sector, public authorities, NGOs and communities.39 Increasingly, private, public and non-profit partners are joining forces on behalf of shared goals in a variety of areas. Given the multifaceted nature of the youth unemployment challenge and the increasing role of the private sector in development, there is a need for partnership and collaboration to provide an array of simultaneous actions: a single intervention is unlikely to be sufficient to tackle the worlds unemployment and underemployment situation.

Companies are starting to articulate the role of business in terms of their ethical and social obligations. Recent macroeconomic events have heightened the attention being paid to the role of business in the community rather than businesses as profit making organisations. As companies take more responsibility for their role in society they are seeking ways to leverage their resources through partnerships with local NGOs and businesses as well as local government and official donors.

Donors, government agencies and the private sector must join together now to find viable, holistic and integrated approaches preparing youth to engage in successful, productive livelihoods.
Making Cents, 2008

Youth Voice
Globally, there is a great need to enhance the youth voice in policy and service delivery. By viewing youth as part of the solution rather than the problem, creative, innovative and most importantly relevant solutions can arise. Young people should be involved in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of potential answers to challenges. Involving young people not only improves the relevance of the solution but also develops core skills in our leaders of tomorrow.

Changing Times
In parallel with the growth of the unemployment challenge, businesses are embracing a broader mission. In a recent text on corporate citizenship, What then characterizes the next generation of corporate citizenship? One feature is a more expansive and inclusive view of corporate responsibility and accountabilitya more holistic view of (organisations) view of their role in society and greater responsibility for their economic, social and environmental impact on society.40 Businesses are moving from compliance towards active engagement as corporate citizens. Corporate citizenship is moving into the boardroom and is starting to become an integral part of the way a company does business. With core pillars of Environment, Community, Workplace and Marketplace the impact of good corporate citizenship stretches across all corporate functions from Human Resources and Sourcing to Marketing and Supply Chain Management.

Benefits for All

Finally, partnership brings benefits to all parties. Benefits to business include conference of legitimacy on CSR efforts, ensuring synergy with broader development plans and programmes, greater interaction with stakeholders and policy access to governments, all of which can help improve a companys licence to operate. Benefits to third sector organisations include increased access to resources, increased skills and capacity and an extended network. Benefits to public sector organisations include more informed policy making, increased resources and capacity, and a connection to practice. In the sphere of youth employment and enterprise, the role of business is particularly critical both as a source of expert knowledge and as a key employer and enabler of enterprise. 13

Examples of leading practice

Entra 21: Third and Public Sector Collaboration to Increase IT Skills in Young People
(Source: International Youth Foundation website) The International Youth Foundation (IYF) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the InterAmerican Development Bank have joined forces to prepare workers for the jobs of the new economy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Together they created a US$25 million programme, entra 21, to co-finance youth employment projects in information technology (IT). This collaboration aims to: Support local projects that train young people and assist them in securing jobs that require IT skills, providing grants and technical assistance to non-profit organisations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Create partnerships among non-profit organisations, governments, and businesses to meet the IT training and employment needs of the region. Identify, document, and disseminate best practices in training, job placement, and collaboration among participating organisations. Entra 21 makes a significant contribution to building a bridge between labour market needs and youth whose interests and capabilities make them ideal candidates to fill the IT skills gap. Grants are awarded for training and job placement projects that target youth and impart IT skills, enabling trainees to work with computers, the Internet, and other workplace technologies and equipment. The projects need to meet a demonstrated demand in the labour market and teach the skills necessary for trainees to find and hold a job. Funding for the Programme came from several sources. The MIF pledged US$10 million, which IYF matched on a one-to-one basis by forming partnerships with multinational corporations, foundations, and governmental agencies in the Americas, Europe, and Japan. www.iyfnet.org

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BYST (India) and Indian Bank: Collaborative Funding Approach

(Source: Youth Business International) Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), the Youth Business International partner in India has recently piloted a successful model with the Indian Bank in Chennai. Through this arrangement, the bank lends young entrepreneurs the money directly based on slightly modified BYST lending criteria. In essence, once an entrepreneur has been put forward to the local BYST board, they undergo interviews that include the bank, which then lends money to young people that they wouldnt normally, at lower than usual interest rates and with no collateral. The scheme is underwritten by a specially designed government insurance policy, which enables the bank to reclaim their money if the debts turn bad, but it opens up an avenue of credit that would not normally be open to young entrepreneurs. This model is now being rolled out across the Indian programme. www.bystonline.org

Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust and Microsoft Scotland42

(Source: Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT)) The Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) has been partnering with Microsoft Scotland since 2004, to help support young people across Scotland to start up and continue in business. The relationship has grown and flourished over this time, and now operates on several levels. Several Microsoft Scotland employees volunteer their time to work directly with the young people that PSYBT supports, acting as mentors for their start-up businesses. These are as diverse as roofing contractors, gardeners, web designers and a social enterprise helping elderly patients stay fit and active all provide a corresponding range of challenges for the volunteers who work with them! The volunteers use their general business and specialist IT skills to help these entrepreneurs maintain and grow their ventures, whilst further developing their own business skills in the process. Microsoft Scotland also utilises its core business capabilities to directly support PSYBT, providing strategic technology and systems advice, as well as donating in-kind assistance and equipment. Microsoft has supported the overhaul of PSYBTs contact management systems, enabling PSYBT to work much more effectively to manage the relationships with the young entrepreneurs and volunteers that it works with. Microsoft Scotland also directly supports PSYBT in fundraising activities, hosting or taking part in events that raise vital funds to support entrepreneurs. By engaging across a broad spectrum of PSYBTs activities, the partnership is helping enable Microsoft to meet its corporate citizenship commitment to help society reach its full potential. Raymond OHare, Director of Microsoft Scotland, sums up the relationship: Microsoft Scotland is committed to making a significant impact across Scottish business, government and the community; our partnership with PSYBT in every way complements these goals. www.psybt.org.uk

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In addition to the above examples of collaborative activity, each of the following organisations is undertaking leading youth focused work in the development arena with youth enterprise elements. The UNS High-Level Panel on Youth Employment Endeavor: Targeting High-impact Entrepreneurs
Endeavor transforms the economies of emerging markets by identifying and supporting high-impact entrepreneurs. High-impact entrepreneurs have the biggest ideas and the most ambitious plans. They have the potential to create thriving companies that employ hundreds, even thousands of people, and generate millions in wages and revenues. And they have the power to inspire countless others. Endeavor works in emerging market countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, India, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey transitioning from international aid to international investment. Endeavor then seeks out local partners to build country boards and benefactors to launch local Endeavor affiliates. Endeavor looks for strong macroeconomic conditions that enable entrepreneurship (e.g. stable economic growth, low corruption levels). While they operate in countries that possess structural barriers to entrepreneurship, they look for indicators that demonstrate that with Endeavors help these barriers can fall. www.endeavor.org

ImagineNations Group
ImagineNations Group is a global alliance of social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, investors, financial institutions, global brands, media and organisationsall working together to empower and inspire a new generation of successful young adults in the developing world with opportunities, employment and livelihood. ImagineNations and its partners (including Silatech) are currently working to create innovative, large-scale investment strategies that promote development opportunities for young people (ages 15-29) across the globe with specific initiatives in South-East Asia, southern Africa, and across the Middle East and North Africa. ImagineNations serves as a thought leader, catalyst, convener and knowledge broker. www.imaginenations.org www.silatech.com

(Source: Nelson, Jane. Building Partnerships: Cooperation between the United Nations system and the private sector, UN Department for Public Information, 2002.) In 2001, a high-level panel on Youth Employment was convened by the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in cooperation with the ILO and the World Bank. Consisting of 12 prominent leaders from the private sector, trade unions, civil society and the economic policy field, the panel reported to the General Assembly in September 2001 with a set of recommendations to implement national action plans to give young people everywhere a decent chance to find decent and productive work. Ongoing work is supported by the creation of the Youth Employment Network, which is based at the ILO. The panel identified four top priority areas for national action plans to support youth employment: EMPLOYABILITY: Invest in education and vocational training for young people to facilitate school-to-work transition and to give young people a head start in working life, especially those that are disadvantaged because of disabilities or who face discrimination due to race, religion or ethnicity. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: Give young women the same opportunities as young men. ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Make it easier for young people to start and run enterprises and/or engage in social entrepreneurship and other forms of self-employment. EMPLOYMENT CREATION: Place employment creation at the centre of macroeconomic policy. www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/

Junior Achievement
JA Worldwide is a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers all working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential. JAs hands-on, experiential programs teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy to young people all over the world. Junior Achievement is the worlds largest organisation dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programmes. Embodying the heart of Junior Achievement are 287,000 classroom volunteers who transform the key concepts of lessons into a message that inspires and empowers students to believe in themselves, showing them they can make a difference in the world. www.ja.org

Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI)

In October 2008, at the World Banks Annual Meetings, the Nike Foundation joined forces with the World Bank, bilateral development agencies and other private sector partners to launch the AGI aimed at promoting the economic empowerment of adolescent girls in poor and post-conflict countries. The AGI will be piloted in Liberia and then expanded by the World Bank and its corporate and bilateral partners to other countries that are likely to include Afghanistan, Nepal, Rwanda, and South Sudan. Other private sector partners in the initiative currently include Cisco Systems, Standard Chartered Bank, Goldman Sachs and the Cherie Blair Foundation. www.nikefoundation.org

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Other Successful Strategies43

National Foundation to Teach Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
Through entrepreneurship education, NFTE, which is also referred to as Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, helps young people from lowincome communities build skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity. Since 1987, NFTE has reached over 186,000 young people, and currently has programs in 21 states and 13 countries outside the U.S. NFTE has more than 1,000 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers, and is continually improving its innovative entrepreneurship curriculum. www.nfte.com Papers published to date offer insight into other opportunities for collaborative action with demonstrable success. These include involvement in social enterprise; leveraging experience of private sector corporations; facilitating youth dialogue and facilitating youth networking and information sharing. Additionally, there is opportunity for collaborative activity to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of youth enterprise programmes.

Key Factors for Collaborative Success

Whilst there is not yet a well tested set of best practices to guide publicprivate partnership, the report from the Brookings Institution Roundtable does highlight several key factors in ensuring successful collaboration as follows: Public private partnerships must overcome cultural clashes by ensuring that there is a strong commitment to collaboration and strategic alliances. All parties must ensure that expectations are aligned to some degree. Open communication, transparency, clarity of roles and ground rules, and regular opportunities for review can help get a partnership going and keep it moving forward. Just as important is mutual agreement on an appropriate exit strategy in case the alliance outlives its utility.46

Achieving Scale and Replicability

To achieve significant impact in the face of the scale of the challenge, programmes and activity should ideally be scalable and replicable. However, the complexity of programmes generally inhibits this replication and scale. Many organisations provide financial support in combination with strategic advice and business skills development to help promising entrepreneurs reach their fullest potential. Yet the more features that are added to a programme, the more costly it becomes to replicate and scale.44 For programmes to reach full scale and be fully sustainable they require either significant ongoing investment or extremely low operating costs or a combination thereof.45 There is an opportunity for collaborative effort to identify opportunities for scalable, replicable programmes to support and enable youth enterprise.

International Youth Foundation

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) is working in more than 70 countries and territories to improve the conditions and prospects for young people where they live, learn, work, and play. Established in 1990 to bring worldwide resources to young people in need, IYF works with hundreds of companies, foundations, and civil society organisations to strengthen and scale up existing programs that are making a positive and lasting difference in young lives. Over the last 17 years, IYF and its global network of in-country Partners have helped millions of young people gain access to the life skills, education, job training and opportunities critical to their success. With the support of IYF and its partners, young South Africans are developing marketable skills in information technology; school dropouts in Australia are becoming young entrepreneurs; youth in Mexico are gaining leadership skills; and young people in China are running their own web-based newspaper. www.iyfnet.org

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An agenda for action47

Business Action
The current global unemployment challenge provides an opportunity for companies to push their corporate citizenship boundaries and charitable activities in tackling the development agenda. The opportunities Core Business Operations and Investments presented by youth enterprise are high in meeting many companies corporate citizenship agendas. Whilst there are numerous avenues to help create social value, businesses must address the tension Philanthropy and Community Investments Private Sector Actions Provision of technical and specialist support. Sharing, shaping and growing business networks for young entrepreneurs. Provision of business mentors for young entrepreneurs. Skills acquisition is of business benefit and enables employees to see the totality of business. Exposure to entrepreneurial thinking. Training and mentoring in core skills including 1) motivating and inspiring young people to understand and pursue business start-up options and 2) training in financial management, business planning, marketing and other business activities. Lending / funding. There is a real challenge for lenders to consider the real credit risk profile of young entrepreneurs, adjusted to reflect the intangible assets the young person has in terms of mentoring and support. Investment into young businesses directly by incorporating them into the supply chain itself. Consider a move to venture philanthropy what can I do, not what can I pay for? Increase understanding on both sides. Support social investors and Non Government Organisations including measuring output and outcomes. Consider a broad definition of business position in the community. Promote youth enterprise support. Promote partnership initiatives to support small business start ups and growth businesses. Advocate to government the importance of subject matter experts. Advocate to government and in all their networks on behalf of the solution. Provide role models and case studies of successful entrepreneurs. Use private sector networks to debate and create collaborative solutions. between long-term development goals and shortterm shareholder profit pressure. In the current climate this requires significant consideration. Public Policy, Dialogue, Advocacy and Institution Building

Involvement in developing the young human capital base in the region is one of the most positive and proactive ways that companies can contribute to building a healthy and sustainable business environment, and this makes sense for business and society.
Business and Youth in the Arab World, 200648

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Public Sector Action

The leadership role of governments and bilateral and multilateral development agencies is essential. Without their active support and direct engagement in the youth employment and enterprise agenda, it will be impossible to achieve the scale necessary to provide the quantity and quality of jobs and economic opportunities that are required, Service Delivery Encourage the entrepreneurial spirit (especially important in the Middle East where entrepreneurs have previously primarily been imported). Understand that small business is often more able to take advantage of new opportunities. Examine economic growth and innovation outputs. Incorporate an understanding of length of benefit relative to earliness of intervention (and poverty cycle cessation). Work towards joined up government. Holistic and strategic approach needed to mitigate against silo approach which leads to fragmented solutions. Most importantly, governments need to create a suitable enabling environment for employment and entrepreneurship in general, and for youth in particular, through a combination of appropriate public policy and fiscal incentives, as well as active consultation and engagement with the private sector. In many countries, governments and public sector Finance and Funding Public Sector Actions Money invested in education to realise benefits i.e. focus investments on creating a platform for enterprise / employment. Consider the overall financial and social equation of providing support to businesses for example, removing some of the challenges of unemployment, tax benefits. Work towards joined up policy creation e.g. consultation, debate etc. Ensure appropriate regulation and legislation which encourages an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs development agencies are also essential in delivering key services for young people from education and vocational training to a variety of social services and in providing the necessary funding for sustaining existing services and innovating with new approaches, be they market-led or driven by the public sector. Public Policy Frameworks

Third Sector Action

The third sector, or civil society, consists of a wide variety of organisations active in the youth employment and enterprise agenda. These range from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), to trade Operational Activities Identify gaps in public sector and marketbased delivery and help to fill these Strive towards collaborative working models and partnerships Recognise the limited financial resources and test and expand innovative financing models. Be innovators and risk takers unions, research institutes, training centres and other education institutions. These civil society organisations play a variety of roles in supporting youth. These include operational activities delivering key youth Capacity Building, Training and learning Third Sector Actions Measure and share input- output impact. Develop and share skills to support youth enterprise. Increase understanding on both sides. Encourage consistent use of terminology and definitions. Professionalism of the third sector correctly pricing the services provided; creativity in terms of identifying and articulating what you need. Identify and share good practice. Identify key challenges and solutions, and act as a public voice for addressing these. Help to bridge the gap between young people and government. Provide civil society knowledge, credibility and leadership to inform debate and policy setting. Act as a platform or collaboration point for formal and sustained consultation between the public and private sector Act as agents for social change. 19 services that either the government or private sector is unable or unwilling to deliver, capacity building, training and learning, advocacy and awareness raising. Advocacy and Awareness Raising

Summary
The global challenge of youth unemployment is significant, and given recent economic events, is likely to increase, however given the current youth bulge, we are at a time of unprecedented opportunity and at a time when youth enterprise and entrepreneurship can provide a substantial part of the solution. The number of unemployed young people around the world is growing faster than the number of new jobs and presents a multifaceted challenge which cannot be met by one single solution. The opportunities presented by youth enterprise can offer a high potential solution as part of a portfolio of activities. Within the development landscape, youth enterprise can be particularly powerful given its ability to generate employment opportunities directly and indirectly, its ability to position young people as positive roles models within their communities and the effect of reducing the continuing cycle of unemployment. To truly achieve scalable and replicable youth enterprise activities requires collaboration and partnership however and will involve all sectors in all regions to maximise success. Public, private and third sector organisations all have their part to play in helping to increase youth employment and each bring distinctive, complementary capabilities. Private sector ingenuity, the reach and scale of governments and the ability of the third sector to reach young people can combine to tackle youth employment, which is of concern to all three. The Global Forum for Youth Entrepreneurship to be held in Edinburgh in November 2008 will act as a springboard to identify opportunities for collaboration and to progress these opportunities. Leaders from industry, governments and the third sector will come together to examine their role and how they can work together to foster a global spirit of youth enterprise both on a regional and global basis.

Acknowledgements
Production of this paper would not have been possible without the guidance, knowledge, support and mentoring from Jane Nelson at John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and the International Business Leaders Forum. Jane has been instrumental in both the creation of this paper and in the related forum event to be hosted by YBI in November 2008. My sincere thanks to her for her insight and vision and her resourceful creativity which have been invaluable. Thanks must also go to the team at Princes Youth Business International for their contribution, guidance, feedback, humour, optimism and inspiration, particularly Andrew Devenport, Andrew Fiddaman and Gina Wallace. YBI work in complete collaboration with the individual youth business programmes around the world and in Scotland, the team at Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust continue to be pioneering, challenging and inspiring in their endless pursuit of opportunity for young entrepreneurs. I have benefited greatly from their knowledge and experience and would like to extend particular thanks to Mark Strudwick, Martin Ferry, Margaret Gibson and Rebecca Logan. Lastly, my thanks to those who reviewed the paper in draft and provided valuable feedback and comments

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Further Reading
For those interested in reading more on the subjects highlighted in the paper, please consult the following sources: Business and Development
Beyond Good Company: Next Generation Corporate Citizenship; Googins, BK, Mirvis, PH & Rochlin, SA (2007) Business and the Millennium Development Goals: An Agenda for Action. Nelson, J and Prescott, D. United Nations Development Programme and International Business Leaders Forum, (2008) Expanding Economic Opportunity: The Role of Large Firms (accompanied by separate reports on seven different industry sectors). Jenkins, B. (2007)

Youth Employment and Enterprise

Business and Youth in the Arab World: partnerships for youth employment and enterprise development. International Business Leaders Forum (2006) http://www.iblf.org/docs/BizYouthArab.pdf Inclusion: Meeting the 100 million youth challenge. Dhillon, N, and Yousef, T. Middle East Youth Initiative. The Wolfensohn Center for development at Brookings and the Dubai School of Government. (2007) Investing in Youth: Large Scale Approaches to Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship. Dowling, E, Peters, C, Twichell, P, and Yao B. ImagineNations (2008) http://www.imaginenations.org/Documents/Case_Study_Work_2007.pdf Youth Microenterprise and Livelihoods: State of the Field. Lessons from the 2007 Global Youth Microenterprise Conference. Making Cents International. (2008) Putting the young in business: policy challenges for youth entrepreneurship. OECD (2001) Not available online. World youth report 2015: Young people today, and in 2015, United Nations (2005) http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/wyr05book.pdf Unleashing Entrepreneurship: United Nations Development Programme (2004) http://www.undp.org/cpsd/documents/report/english/fullreport.pdf World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation. World Bank (2007) Not available online.

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Endnotes
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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

32 33 34

35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

45 46

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Expanding Enterprise: Lifting the Poor: The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty. Brainard, L and LaFleur, V (eds), The Brookings Institution, 2005 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/object/index.htm World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007:2 Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2006 Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2006: 8 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007: 5-9 Collaborative International Dictionary v0.48 Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2006 Econterms.com Encarta.msn.com UNDP website http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml Investor Words.com Investor Words.com National Audit Office http://www.nao.org.uk/guidance/better_funding/AnnexA.htm UN, 1992 UN, 1992 Statistical charts and indicators on the situation of youth, 1970 1990 (New York) Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2006 Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2006 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007: 4 See The World Development Report: Development and the next generation 2007 for further information UNICEF Definition of Terms: Life Skills, http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/index_7308.html Youth Employment, A Global Goal, a National Challenge, International Labour Office, 2006 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007: 33 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007: 60 Global Employment Trends for Youth, International Labour Office, 2004 Business and Youth in the Arab World, International Business Leaders Forum 2006 Nelson, J in Expanding Enterprise: Lifting the Poor: The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty. Brainard and LaFleur, The Brookings Institution, 2005 Transforming the development landscape, 2006, Brainard Business and Youth in the Arab World, Internatioanl Business Leaders Forum 2006 Expanding Enterprise: Lifting the Poor: The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty. Brainard and LaFleur, The Brookings Institution, 2005 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007: 113 Investing in Youth: Large Scale Approaches to Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, Imagine Nations Group, 2007 YBI Bridging the Gap, ILO Is Youth Entrepreneurship a Necessity or an Opportunity? IDB, 2006: 20 HRH The Prince of Wales, speaking at the United Nations, New York, 1st November 2005 Beyond Good Company, Googins, Mirvis and Rochlin, 2007 World Development Report: Development and the next generation, 2007 For further details of European funding opportunities, see paper produced by PSYBT, available from YBI Youth Microenterprise and Livelihoods: State of the Field; Making Cents International, 2007 Expanding Enterprise: Lifting the Poor: The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty. Brainard and LaFleur, The Brookings Institution, 2005:16 Investing in Youth: Large Scale Approaches to Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, Imagine Nations Group, 2007 Expanding Enterprise: Lifting the Poor: The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty. Brainard and LaFleur, The Brookings Institution, 2005: 27 Model adapted from Business as a Partner Overcoming Malnutrition, The Clinton Global Initiative, 2007. With thanks to Jane Nelson, Harvard University. Business and Youth in the Arab World, International Business Leaders Forum 2006

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which have helped to refine the paper to its current state: Gib Bulloch, Jill Huntley and Richard Kho.

About Youth Business International

www.youth-business.org The Princes Youth Business International (YBI) is an international network of programmes that help disadvantaged young people to become entrepreneurs by providing business mentoring and loan funds. The network comprises 38 locally based, independent initiatives that adopt the YBI model to meet national needs and conditions. Each local programme operates on three common principles: they support young people, typically aged between 18-35, who have a good business idea but who cannot obtain help elsewhere; they provide access to start-up funds in the form of a loan without the need for guarantees or collateral; and they provide the young entrepreneur with a volunteer business mentor and access to business networks. YBIs goal is to build the size and the capabilities of the network to enable the programmes to help more young entrepreneurs start their own business. The YBI network has helped to start over 90,000 successful new businesses which in turn have provided employment to hundreds of thousands of others. In 2007 the YBI network helped over 6,300 new entrepreneurs, achieving a three-year annual growth rate of 37%. YBI is part of The Princes Charities, a group of 20 not-for-profit organisations of which HRH The Prince of Wales is President. YBI was founded in 1999 and became an independent organisation in 2008.

About the author

Kirsty Baker is a manager with Accenture, with responsibility for Corporate Citizenship in Scotland. With a background in financial services consulting, and an interest in both organisational behaviour and the connections between organisations and the communities in which they operate, Kirsty has recently completed a strategic analysis for Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust on the relationship between youth enterprise and local government policy agendas. Kirsty has a strong interest in youth enterprise and in the ways in which this can help to address current social and economic challenges. She is also a firm believer in collaboration to maximise the value of activities and promotes a culture of collaboration in her corporate citizenship work. Kirsty has a Masters in Organisational Behaviour from Birkbeck College, University of London and a Bachelor Degree from the University of Durham. Kirsty is a Chartered Banker and a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. Kirsty is married to Jamie with a daughter Scarlet and lives in the Scottish Borders. In her spare time she enjoys horse riding, creative arts and gardening.

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The situation of young people today presents the world with an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate growth and reduce poverty.
Development and the Next Generation World Development Report 2007, The World Bank2

The Princes Youth Business International The Princes Charities, PO Box 50473 London W8 9DN, UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 3326 2060 Fax: +44 (0)20 7937 8474 Email: info@pybi.org