School closures during COVID-19 (coronavirus) led to an unprecedented global experiment in the delivery of remote learning. This report seeks to assess what lessons can be drawn from experiences of remote learning during COVID-19 in K-12 education, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

This study includes three main sections that have been organized in chronological order within this report: the first one, “What can we learn from education emergency responses in low- and middle-income countries?” analyzes the emergency education responses to the COVID-19 pandemic of over 120 governments from April until May 2020.

Short-term education and skills training programs are a popular way to meet the needs of unemployed, out-of-school youth by providing them with an opportunity to quickly acquire qualifications and skills that can lead to productive employment. This new paper reviews the global evidence to identify which programs are most effective at delivering results. Based on the findings, recommendations are offered for the future design of these training programs.

This report presents the findings from the second phase of the Research for Results (R4R) program. The R4R’s primary objective is to generate quantitative evidence on student and teacher performance, school environment and management, and qualitative evidence related to vulnerable youth at risk of dropping out. This evidence-based analysis is supported by policy recommendations and featured in the new government's five-year general education strategy (2021-2025).

The report provides an overview of social protection instruments for different groups in informal economy and proposes innovative instruments to encourage the “missed middle” of social protection to save and build resilience to future shocks.

This report provides an understanding of Sudan's country context and the specific challenges affecting youth employment. The study also identifies key opportunities and solutions to increase youth employment and assesses how the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE), launched in 2019 by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, can play a role in supporting them.

This note seeks to look back at the development and implementation process of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). It takes take stock of its main achievements and how they are taken forward in the 2020 Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience and paves the way for future EU initiatives.

This report explores the labor market outcomes and returns of SCPs, examines their providers, and identifies the practices adopted by the best programs. Relying on unique data that includes a novel survey of short-cycle programs (SCPs) directors in five LAC countries, it finds that while SCPs generate, on average, good labor market outcomes, they vary greatly in quality. Drawing on these findings, this report discusses how to create an environment where good programs are offered and students have the interest and means to attend them.

This report aims to guide stakeholders with tools and information to support the integration of meaningful youth engagement into youth employment programming and strategies. The paper outlines what meaningful youth engagement is, why meaningful youth engagement is important, and how it could be embedded across various stages of the program life cycle, as well as within a funder’s strategy and culture. The presented roadmap’s recommendations are both immediately actionable and aspirational.

This report reviews the literature, identifies project examples, and derives lessons for the design and implementation of demand-driven training (DDT) and results-based financing (RBF). A summary of the existing literature on international experiences with DDT and RBF, including good practices, is presented here. This review aims to identify the most effective ways to deliver these programs and provide general lessons on their design and implementation.

The European classification of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) is one concrete implementation of the digital labour market policies put in place by the Commission at European level. ESCO is facilitating an interconnected, digital European labour market by supporting 3 main use cases: job-matching and job searching; career guidance and learning management; research and big data analysis of the labour market. This resource details the use cases.

This brief highlights different ways in which youth employment projects in S4YE’s community of practice, the Impact Portfolio, are adapting their strategies and delivery models in response to COVID‒19. Based on recent and ongoing discussions with our partners, we see six main trends that programs are using to maintain operational and programmatic continuity. These include scaling of virtual operations, crowdsourcing ideas from youth, accelerating remote learning, encouraging youth voice, increased support for micro, small and medium enterprises, and leveraging new growth opportunities. Overall, we see a deepening and widening of the ways our partners are using digital technology to be effective and to reach more youth in these challenging times.

This brief discusses the importance of incorporating youth voice in the design of youth employment programs and the factors organizations must consider when utilizing radio, short message service (SMS) text, and social media platforms. It also features how technology platforms have been used by S4YE’s Partners and the World Bank, to incorporate youth voice in projects. The Note highlights practical insights, challenges, and solutions that can help youth practitioners.

Young people are particularly disadvantaged in Kosovo’s labor market, facing high unemployment and precarious working conditions. In response, promoting youth employment has become a policy priority for the Government of Kosovo. Supporting young people’s employment prospects must consider that young people are different than adults. First, they face age-specific barriers in the labor market, such as lack of work experience and limited professional networks. Second, the youth years are a time of transition where young people build autonomy and identity and are strongly influenced by their social environment. These realities need to be considered for program design and implementation. Youth employment policies and interventions should therefore be sensitive to the specific needs and preferences of young people.

This note discusses policy options for managing the employment impacts of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. The note pays attention to the labor market and institutional context of most low and middle-income countries, where informality is large and where existing institutions often lack mechanisms to effectively reach businesses and workers in the informal economy. 

This report analyzes the digital gig economy in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia and provides policy recommendations for a long-term approach that considers the needs of platforms, gig workers, consumers, and the government authorities themselves.

This factbook is designed to aide practitioners and highlights interesting design elements from the 44 youth employment programs that make up S4YE's external community of practice, the Impact Portfolio. Projects from leading organizations such as Harambee, Samasource, Generation, Save the Children, Aga Khan Development Network, Knack, and many more are part of this community. These projects represent a spectrum of themes which include Digital Jobs and Skills, Private Sector Involvement, Business Incubation and Acceleration, Impact Sourcing, Digital Platforms, Agriculture, Youth with Disabilities, Woman and Girls, as well as Refugees.

This report assesses the damaging impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on youth employment in Asia and the Pacific and recommends critical policy responses.

The knowledge brief describes Global Communities' approach to implementing sustainable workforce development interventions at scale that targeted the informal construction sector. It outlines the key elements of the approach, assesses whether there are early signs of sustainability, and presents some recommendations. 

The emergence of the platform or gig economy is a major trend. These changes will affect the organisation of employment relationships, job profiles and the requisite skills. This paper analyses six studies that have addressed these issues, while focusing on aspects with a bearing on TVET.