Invest in youth: Background

Nearly a quarter of the world’s population are youth between the ages of 10 and 24, and 87 percent of them live in developing countries. One of the greatest challenges facing these young people is unemployment, with six out of 10 of the approximately 120 million young people joining the labor market each year unable to find jobs. Efforts to support youth employability must dramatically increase and evolve to keep up with rapid population growth and changes in the global demand for labor. The Youth Cafe’s Invest In Youth Program serves as a coordinating platform for international development activities related to education, employability, entrepreneurship training, mentoring, and leadership development of youth between the ages of 14 and 35. Building on The Youth Cafe’s research  findings and global labor market trends, Invest In Youth activities are currently focused on the following three priority areas: 

1. Thought leadership

Invest In Youth is working with partner institutions to develop and disseminate case studies and comparative analyses of pilot projects that have positively impacted youth, particularly in the area of entrepreneurship, reproductive health and food security. Activities in this area include the facilitation of youth-led conferences; research and outreach projects; and support for social and business entrepreneurship ventures.

2. Capacity building

Activities in this area will occur on multiple levels and include capacity building of young people and their ventures through joint program implementation. Invest In Youth is also focused on institutional capacity building and technical training of local NGO partners, government officials and young entrepreneurs. It also involves the coordination and implementation of livelihood activities with these stakeholders.

3. Content development

TYC is working with local partners to develop educational content that is culturally relevant and appropriate to the language, literacy and local realities of target communities. Content developed through this initiative will reflect state-of-the-art pedagogy that utilizes participatory, multimedia and blended learning approaches and delivery mechanisms. This content will be shared with local youth  educators, NGO partners and civil society organizations and used as instructional aides to increase young people’s access to life skills, vocational training and leadership opportunities.

Invest In Youth works with partner institutions to develop and disseminate research and best practices on projects that positively impact youth while equipping them to succeed in a global economy. Invest In Youth activities include the facilitation of youth-led conferences; support for social and business entrepreneurship ventures; capacity building of local NGO partners, government officials and young entrepreneurs, and facilitation of livelihood programs. Invest In Youth is also working with local partners to develop entrepreneurship training content that is culturally relevant and appropriate to the language, literacy and local realities of target communities. Content developed through this initiative will incorporate state-of-the-art pedagogy that utilizes participatory, multimedia and blended learning approaches and delivery mechanisms. During the 2018/2019 financial year, in collaboration with our partners, academic colleges, various administrative units and ready to roll out a series of initiatives that address young people’s aspirations for sustainable development and economic progress.

Invest In Youth will continue to build on The Youth Cafe’s legacy of international engagement and collaboration to promote the voices of youth and provide the agency for them to develop and implement innovative interventions that promote social and political stability and improve the livelihood of millions of people around the world.

Case study

The Youth Cafe trains and mentors young entrepreneurs on business management modules. Our approach is based on systems thinking, which embraces the need to understand how diverse forces and structures influence the complex entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kenyan informal sector. As such, the company's innovative services are tailored to equip youth owned MSMEs with a full suite of skills to promote business growth and enhance their ability to access finance.

The objective is to help improve their product quality, access to business loans, marketability, and reach thus creating equitable opportunities for youth owned MSMEs, particularly to the benefit of the more than 12 million young people who are not connected to opportunities for training, school, or formal work.

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