A New Era for YAG
At Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE), we believe as the challenge of tackling youth employment grows, so must our efforts to include young people in solution-making.
That’s why we are thrilled to announce that we have scaled up S4YE’s Youth Advisory Group (YAG)— from 17 original members to more than 120 young, energetic, talented innovators and entrepreneurs representing over 65 countries around the world. Their inspiring work spans several development themes, including: Circular Economy; Gig Jobs; Creative Economy; Healthcare; Digital Skills (including Artificial Intelligence); and Inclusive Jobs (including Informal Livelihoods, Agriculture, Persons with Disabilities, and Gender).
To facilitate the expansion of YAG, we called for organizations to nominate entrepreneurial youth from developing countries who have led or created a pioneering initiative or solution to a development challenge. After receiving nominations from more than 50 organizations across a wide range of sectors, an esteemed panel of leaders from the Mastercard Foundation, the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, and Youth Business International (YBI) helped to select the final YAG members.
A Mutually Beneficial Relationship
YAG enables us to bring powerful youth voices to the table, ensuring they have a say in issues directly affecting them. In past years, YAG members have provided feedback on policy recommendations being suggested in World Bank flagship reports, contributed to high-profile World Bank events and discussions, and joined S4YE Steering Committee meetings to share inputs on our analytical and operational work.
In the coming year, we will arm this community of youth leaders with tools, skills, and networks to facilitate their personal growth and advance their journey as change-makers. To that end, we are developing a strategic set of programs and activities including entrepreneurial courses, learning resources, founder chats, thematic roundtables, and challenges. For example, the recently launched World Bank Youth Innovation Challenge will unlock the potential of the next generation of youth aquapreneurs and accelerate their solutions for the water crisis.
We Want to Hear from You!
To make our Youth Advisory Group (YAG) even more rich and diverse, we are looking to recruit more members engaged in projects and initiatives related to the Creative Economy, Artificial Intelligence, and Gig Jobs, as well as youth from the East Asia and Pacific region. If your organization is interested in nominating youth leaders who fall under any of these categories, please write to Apoorva Reddy Neelapu at aneelapu@worldbank.org.
If you are an organization or World Bank team hoping to engage youth as you design an operation, program, policy, or research study, we urge you to reach out to us. The S4YE team would be delighted to support your incorporation of youth voices in your work! Please write to Apoorva Reddy Neelapu at aneelapu@worldbank.org.
