The Challenge
For millions of young people around the world finding a decent job is still a drawn-out uphill struggle. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), despite a mild recovery in the 2012-2014 period, the current youth unemployment rate of 13 percent is still well above its pre-financial crisis level (ILO, 2015).
Vocational and technical skills continue to be sought after by employers. However, they are increasingly seeking applicants with soft skills such as communication, problem-solving and flexibility.
These core skills are just as important to job-seekers as they are to employers, since they improve one’s ability to secure a job, retain employment, move flexibly in the labor market, and engage in lifelong learning (ILO, 2013).
The Opportunity
In recent years, there has been a growing focus on better understanding what drives youth employability and how to support the transition from education to the workforce. In addition, there have been recent initiatives and partnerships formed to strengthen youth readiness for the workforce, including Solutions for Youth Employment (a multi-stakeholder coalition to enhance employment among youth), Workforce Connections Community of Practice (a USAID funded initiative to promote evidence-based learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange), and Generation (a program run by McKinsey Social Initiative to build skills for youth in high-growth industries).
Given that mechanisms already exist for different forms of peer-to-peer exchange and collaborative learning, it is also important to try to understand what approaches work in engaging stakeholders, including youth themselves, and what gaps exist.
The Joint Learning Network co-founded by Results for Development (R4D) and global and country partners from around the world has helped practitioners learn from each other how to solve practical challenges of getting to universal health coverage. In light of this experience, the Umsizi Fund asked R4D to complete a rapid, five-month study in 2016 to scope and assess the need for a peer learning network for youth skills development.
Our Work
R4D will develop a framework on the issues and needs of actors engaged in skills development efforts to boost youth employability. We will also examine and test the potential for a learning network – including specific issues to focus on and models for learning.
The rapid scoping exercise will be conducted in three phases:
1. The first phase will be the development of preliminary hypotheses on the issues and needs of actors engaged in skills development efforts to boost youth employability in low- and middle- income countries, focusing specifically on the African continent (including both sub-Saharan Africa and the North Africa region). The approach will draw on R4D’s existing understanding of the sector, recent studies on the employability space, and data from the Center for Education Innovations. Targeted key informant interviews will help inform the framework. R4D seeks to answer the following questions:
- What are key components, common challenges, and breakthrough approaches in promising youth employability initiatives, specifically those focused on bridging the gap between school and the labor market?
- Who are the African youth employability organizations that might participate in a learning network?
- What is the potential for collaborative learning around these issues, and how would implementers benefit from collaborative sharing and exchange of ideas?
- What are possible forms and designs for such a learning network?
2. In the second phase, R4D will share and test a preliminary hypothesis on the potential for a learning network with skills development experts. This testing will occur at a session at the 2016 Global Youth Economic Opportunities (YEO) Summit (September 28-30).
3. In the final phase, findings from the session will be refined and disseminated. These findings will aim to identify common issues that are relevant to youth employability initiatives, examples of breakthrough approaches or programs that are working in this space, and the scope for a learning network to exchange lessons.
Ultimately, the scoping analysis will set the stage for testing a demand-driven learning network concept geared towards youth employability organizations in sub-Saharan Africa and the North Africa.
