This information aims to provide a diagnosis of the current global situation of waste pickers - informal waste workers that provide a waste management service and contribute to public health and sustainability but lack social and health protection. The following information was sourced from our members on the ground, and we hope will help inform and prioritize lines of action aimed at solving the urgent needs of the waste management system’s most vulnerable actors.

This video discusses what a circular economy is and its benefits. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in use for longer by repairing, reusing, and recycling them. This contrasts with our current linear economy, which throws things away after use. A circular economy is better for the environment, reduces pollution, and conserves resources.

Every year, 25 million young people in Africa enter the labor market, more than half of them (14 million) in rural areas. By the year 2030, 320 million new jobs will need to be created, which makes Rural Youth Employment one of the most pressing and challenging topics, but also presents an enormous opportunity for economic development in capitalizing on this “youth dividend”. This report aims at highlighting good practices and lessons from GIZ programs on rural youth employment. 

This toolkit provides advice for young women who could become digital professionals and employers struggling to fill the job openings in their companies. The focus is on young women that are
Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEETs) – hence they face various risks, problems, and negative orientations. 
 

With rapid technological growth, there is an increased opportunity to better link digital finance and business platforms for young entrepreneurs, especially in developing countries. This report provides trends related to youth entrepreneurship and financial inclusion in South Asia and South East Asia based on results from Findex and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey data and qualitative insights from an online survey of 64 young entrepreneurs.

The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the participation of youth in fisheries and aquaculture, including opportunities and challenges for participation, (ii) understand what WorldFish and key partners (government organizations, nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and others) are doing in the focal countries in relation to youth participation, and (iii) provide potential areas for further research that could support improved youth participation in aquaculture, small-scale fisheries, and value chains.

This report seeks to contribute to understanding how youth social entrepreneurship can both support youth development and help accelerate the implementation of the SDGs. To do so, the report synthesizes the current discussion on social entrepreneurship and anchors it in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The report then turns toward the youth situation and examines whether social entrepreneurship can offer employment opportunities and support other elements of youth development, such as youth participation. 

The toolkit provides a starting point for community leaders to learn about changes happening now that can provide insights about future changes in the nature and structure of work and related implications for youth and young adults in their communities.

This manual guides business development practitioners, the donor community, and other developmental experts wishing to implement an intervention to support and strengthen women growth-oriented entrepreneurs. It is specifically geared to practitioners wishing to improve their understanding of challenges specific to women entrepreneurs and practical ways of addressing these.

The study recommends four pathways for the private sector and development actors to serve and support youth: 1) Design for the full range of youth personas and pathways; 2) Customize value chain approaches to address key youth constraints; 3) Use digital solutions to reach youth affordability and at scale, with high potential for impact; 4) Capture opportunities beyond production as enablers.

The Finnish public employment services (PES), governed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (MEAE), has carried out a short mapping study on the state of the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in job matching and public employment services.

This study aims to identify what works, how and why to re-engage and retain out-of-school and at-risk adolescents and youth in education and explore for out-of-school adolescents and youth of secondary school age by country income group.  

This research highlights the growing interest in Circular Supply Chain Management (CSCM) as a sustainable alternative to traditional linear models. While existing research explores supply chain sustainability, a unified definition for CSCM is lacking. This study addresses this gap by proposing a unifying definition and conducting a comprehensive review of CSCM research. The authors identify under-researched areas like design for circularity, collaboration in circular supply chains, and consumer behavior, suggesting important directions for future research in achieving a truly circular economy.

This report takes stock of the market for impact investing and examines the conditions that would allow the market to grow and realize its potential. Although still small, the market is attracting considerable interest, and it has the potential to increase in scale, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate goals.

This diagnostic identifies opportunities to stimulate sustainable economic growth and development by harnessing the power of the private sector in Angola.

This diagnostic investigates whether opportunities exist for the private sector to contribute more substantially to Burkina Faso’s development.

The purpose of this diagnostic is to support Ethiopia’s transition to a private sector-driven growth model that advances the country’s development objectives and, in particular, delivers the necessary jobs. 

This diagnostic sheds light on how the private sector can more effectively contribute to advancing Kenya’s developmental goals. Applying a sectoral lens, it puts forward operational recommendations highlighting strategic entry points for diversification and growth and addresses key constraints to private sector engagement.

Country Private Sector Diagnostics (CPSDs) are jointly produced by IFC and the World Bank. They are a tool introduced to enable IFC and the World Bank to more systematically identify opportunities to help create or expand markets and private sector investment in developing countries.

The purpose of this report is to assess opportunities and constraints holding back private sector growth in Nepal. It conducts a diagnostic of the main cross-cutting constraints to private sector competitiveness and growth through data analysis, synthesis of existing research, and stakeholder consultations.