➡️ Join the PROSPECTS4Youth Intergenerational Network Virtual Roundtable
Designed to advance young people’s engagement, education, skills development and employment in forced displacement contexts, the roundtable will explore collaborative solutions and mobilise collective action that can support young people in forced displacement contexts realise their true potential. 

🗓️Date: June 10
🕒Time: 14:00 CEST
📍Online via Zoom
→ Register Here

➡️ Apply to The Pankaj Award to End Conflict
Regent Global is investing $250,000 to support young leaders working to prevent and resolve conflict worldwide. One winner will receive $100,000, while other finalists will receive $10,000–$50,000 to advance their initiatives.

Finalists will also receive a fully funded scholarship to attend the One Young World Summit 2026 in Cape Town (3–6 November) and gain lifetime membership in the global One Young World Ambassador Community, connecting them with 20,000+ changemakers across 190+ countries.

🗓️Apply until June 15
→ Apply Here

➡️ Join UNICEF YuWaah's Young People's Action Team (YPAT)
Are you passionate about advocating for the needs of young people from your communities and voicing their concerns with decision-makers on national and global platforms?

If you're aged 15–29 and eager to contribute to shaping strategies and programs focused on employment, career guidance, skilling, entrepreneurship and community action for young people, then this is the perfect opportunity for you!

Please note: Young people based in India for the duration of 2026-2027 are eligible to apply.

🗓️Apply until June 21
→ Apply Here

💬 Which topic are you most excited to explore next week? Join the discussion on YouthForesight and be part of shaping the future.

1️⃣ UNICEF’s Digital Education and AI Strategy 2025-2030
➝ ➝ ➝ Explore this strategy, which focuses on accelerating learning and skills through evidence-based approaches while bridging digital, gender, disability, and language gaps in and out of school.
🔗 bit.ly/4fdDaSP

2️⃣ ILO WAEMU Youth Country Briefs
➝ ➝ ➝  The ILO, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, produces these new statistical briefs on the eight WAEMU countries, offering updated insights into youth labour market trends and informing policy and programme dialogue.
🔗 bit.ly/4aeFeqd

3️⃣ Introducing YBI’s EYE Academy
➝ ➝ ➝  This inclusive platform offers tailored resources, training, and peer communities to help entrepreneurs grow and create economic impact locally and globally.
🔗 bit.ly/49rcH0s

🗓️ Upcoming Youth Events and Opportunities:

The World Bank Group Youth Summit returns for its 13th edition, inviting young people (18-35) to engage with the most urgent issues their generation faces, while bringing together thousands of participants from across the globe.

Under the theme #FutureWorks: Designing Jobs for the Digital Age, this year’s Summit will center on education and skills, entrepreneurship, and agriculture.

You can take part in-person or online! [Learn How]


🗣️ Trending in our Community Forum:

“Four months ago l shared in this forum our goal in establishing a community research center. I am very proud to share an update!

We have managed to mobilize resources and purchased a satellite internet service installed at Mhakwe Knowledge Center, providing internet to more than 400 young people, farmers and community stakeholders.” - Bineloge Blessing Nhembo

🙌 A wonderful community WIN shared by our forum member Bineloge from Zimbabwe! 🙌 What wins, big or small, have you achieved so far this year? 👉 Join the convo in this link!

💬 The rich discussion highlighted key issues including informality, skills mismatch, rural employment challenges, and gender and disability disparities, all connected to the future of work in West Africa.

Here are some key insights you might have missed:

✨ Personal Reflection

👉 What are YOU working on right now that would benefit from this webinar's discussion?
👉 And what practical NEXT STEPS would be valuable to you from this webinar?

We’re excited to turn our engagement into something impactful—and to explore how we can collaborate, connect and move forward together.

Tell us in the comments below! 👇

Background:
Across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), young people face persistent challenges in accessing productive and sustainable employment opportunities.

Despite periods of relatively strong economic growth, labour markets remain characterised by high levels of informality, a strong concentration of employment in low-productivity agriculture and significant disparities across gender, disability status and location. Rapid demographic growth further intensifies pressure on labour markets, making youth employment a central development priority for the region.

Strengthening the evidence base on these dynamics is essential to better understand the constraints faced by young people and to inform effective policy responses. 

To contribute to this effort, the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, has undertaken a new phase of analytical work covering the eight WAEMU countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

Building on a long-standing collaboration, this work includes the production of comparable country briefs drawing on newly available harmonized household survey data.

The resulting analysis provides updated and comparable insights into youth labour market trends and serves as a basis for dialogue on policy and programme responses. 

Objectives:

The webinar aims to: 

• Present key findings from the latest ILO statistical analysis of youth labour market trends across the eight WAEMU countries;  

• Provide a platform for dialogue among policymakers, practitioners and youth representatives on the implications of these trends;  

• Strengthen the link between evidence and policy discussions on youth employment.  

Audience:
We welcome governments, regional organizations, youth groups, development partners, researchers and private sector to join. 

Agenda & Speakers:

Welcome and opening remarks 

• ​Ms Fanfan Rwanyindo Kayirangwa, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa 

• ​Dr Eunice Muthengi, Director Evidence & Learning Insights, Mastercard Foundation

Presentation: Youth labour market trends in WAEMU

• Mr Niall O’Higgins, Senior Employment Research Specialist, ILO

​​Discussion: Implications for youth employment policies and programmes

• ​Moderator: Ms Sara Elder, Head, Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit, ILO

• ​Panellists:

         - ​Ms Maurice Lorka, Program Lead, Policies WAEMU, Mastercard Foundation

         - Mr Ali Madai Boukar, Employment & Socio-Economic Recovery Specialist, ILO

         - Representative, WAEMU Commission

         - Youth representative

Q&A with audience
Closing

ConnectRefugee is a mobile app built under CAMPUS Digital Hub. It was created to help refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement access verified and timely information in a simple way.

Inside Nakivale, information about scholarships, health, aid, services, and opportunities often spreads through word of mouth, notice boards, WhatsApp, or by car passing. This creates serious risks. Many people receive wrong information at the wrong time, others get exposed to scammers who ask for money in exchange for fake opportunities, and some end up traveling long distances only to find that the information was never real. This leads to loss of time, money, and trust.

We built this app to reduce these risks by giving organizations and trusted partners a direct way to share verified updates with the community, so people can access information that is more reliable and easier to act on from the source.

The app works in a simple way. Organizations can share opportunities and updates. Users in Nakivale can receive and read this information in five languages (English, French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, and Arabic), making it easier for more people to understand and act on it.

If you have people or organizations working in Nakivale, or if you have opportunities that refugees can benefit from, you can contact us so we can share them with the right audience.

If you are in Uganda, you can also go ahead and download ConnectRefugee on the Google Play Store and start using it today.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.connectrefugee.userug&hl=en

We welcome partners, organizations, and individuals who want their information to reach real people who need it.
Made in Nakivale refugee settlement.

As the week winds down, we’re keeping the momentum going. To help you stay ahead and make the most of next week, we’ve rounded up 3 upcoming events for meaningful engagement in youth programming and advocacy.

1️⃣ Webinar: Youth Labour Market Trends in West Africa presented by ILO and Mastercard Foundation

📅 Date: Wednesday, 2o May 2026
🕐 Time: 15:00–16:30 CEST
✅ Register Here

Why This Matters? Young people in West African Economic and Monetary Union WAEMU countries continue to face major barriers to productive and sustainable employment, driven by informality, low-productivity jobs, and inequality across gender, disability, and location. This webinar will present new ILO and Mastercard Foundation findings on youth labour trends across eight countries to inform policy dialogue and strengthen evidence-based responses.

➤ Learn More

↓↓↓

2️⃣ Hybrid Event: World Bank Group's East Asia and Pacific Youth Forum – #FutureMakers: Youth Driving Jobs

📅 Date: 2o-21 May 2026
🕐 Time: 08:00–15:00 GMT+7
✅ Register Here

Why This Matters? The East Asia and Pacific Youth Forum 2026 brings together youth, government, business leaders, and World Bank Group experts to explore the future of jobs in the region. Participants will gain insights on emerging job trends, develop skills through interactive sessions, and expand their professional networks.

➤ Learn More

↓↓↓

3️⃣ ILO "SKILLS Bridge" Masterclass: Harnessing Private Sector Power to Build the Workforce of Tomorrow: Driving Productivity, Decent Work and Social Justice through Skills

📅 Date: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
🕐 Time: 12:00–13:30 CEST | 10:00–11:30 GMT
✅ Registration (FREE): Webinar Registration - Zoom

Why This Matters? This masterclass will highlight effective models of private sector leadership, innovative partnerships that are helping to future-proof workforces, close skills gaps, and create pathways to decent work. It aims to inspire action and support more inclusive, resilient, and skills-ready labour markets.

➤ Learn More

🔔 Never miss an event! Always stay up to date at YouthForesight's engage section for upcoming youth activities and engagements. 🥳

How knowledgeable are you about the youth employment situation across Africa? This #ForumFriday, let’s put your knowledge to the test with a quick quiz based on key insights and data on African youth employment. Ready? 🚀

True or False:

1️⃣ Young women make up the majority of employed youth in Africa.
2️⃣ NEET means “New Education Employment Training.”
3️⃣ Around 57% of young Africans are currently employed.
4️⃣ By 2033, agriculture is projected to remain the largest employer of young Africans.
5️⃣ Many African youth begin working before completing their education.

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Before checking the answers, here’s some context 👇

The data and insights featured in this quiz are drawn from the Africa Youth Employment Clock and the new report, Africa Youth Employment Outlook 2026.

Developed by World Data Lab in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, the Africa Youth Employment Clock is a first-of-its-kind platform designed to monitor youth job growth and forecast employment trends across Africa through 2030.

The platform aims to democratize data and support evidence-based decision-making across the public and private sectors.

.
.
.
.
.

Answers:

1️⃣ False — Young women make up the majority of unemployed youth in Africa.
2️⃣ False — NEET stands for Not in Education, Employment, or Training.
3️⃣ True — Around 57% of young Africans are currently employed.
4️⃣ False — The services sector is projected to grow faster than agriculture in youth employment.
5️⃣ True — Many young Africans enter the labour market while still of school age (15–17), often taking on low-paying, informal agricultural work before completing their education.

How many did you get right? 👀

How can data and tools like these strengthen your work, advocacy, or programming on youth employment? Are there other youth issues or trends you think deserve greater attention?

Let’s discuss in the comments below ⬇️

🌍🤝 Important engagements you should participate:

UNESCO has just launched global youth and student consultations to co-design the Post-2030 Education Agenda.

Through a global survey and consultation meetings, they are calling on youth and students aged 11–30 to shape the future of education and influence the direction leaders take next.

Join the movement!
• Students & youth: Take the survey individually or with friends as a group.
👉 https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Uq5PHbM5-kuwswIpVrERlE8JdGMWsPxEmjwXpTCC2qpUQjU3V0RHOVdVUFlFRjAwT1FVOEkzSUI5Vy4u&route=shorturl

• Teachers & educators, partners and education actors: Organize a debate with your youth and send their views. Use the age-specific guidance documents (ages 11–30) to lead the conversation and submit a collective response.
👉 https://www.unesco.org/sdg4education2030/en/articles/education-beyond-2030-global-youth-and-student-consultations-shape-future-education-agenda

Listed among the official speakers, the session convened global development stakeholders to reflect on IDA’s role in supporting low-income countries and to deliberate on emerging priorities for inclusive and sustainable development.

Highlighting IDA’s Impact on Youth and Economic Transformation

In his address, Olaore acknowledged the significant impact IDA has made in advancing youth employment, digital innovation, and the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across developing economies.

He emphasised that IDA’s investments continue to play a critical role in strengthening economic systems, expanding opportunities, and supporting vulnerable populations in low-income countries.

Emphasising Demand-Driven Skills and Workforce Readiness

A central focus of his intervention was the urgent need to prioritise demand-driven skills development, particularly in sectors shaping the future of work.

He highlighted the importance of aligning education and training systems with:

-The digital economy and emerging technologies
-Transformation of agri-food systems
-Entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems

Olaore stressed that addressing youth unemployment, particularly in countries such as Nigeria, requires greater alignment between skills development and evolving labour-market demands.

Strengthening Local Partnerships for Greater Impact

He further underscored that sustainable development outcomes depend on strengthening country-level delivery systems through deeper collaboration with:

-Local and community-based organisations
-Civil society actors
-Private sector partners and innovation networks

According to his remarks, such partnerships are essential for improving implementation effectiveness and ensuring that development programmes translate into tangible, measurable impact on the ground.

This approach is especially critical for accelerating inclusive job creation for youth and women in underserved communities.

Youth as Central Drivers of Development

A key message of the intervention was the need to reposition young people as active drivers of development, rather than passive recipients.

Olaore emphasised that long-term development impact depends on how effectively global systems empower local actors and enable young people to meaningfully participate in shaping solutions, policies, and implementation processes.

Conclusion

The participation of YEDIS at the IDA Policy Dialogue reflects its growing engagement in global development policy spaces and its commitment to advancing youth-centred solutions.

Olaore expressed appreciation for the opportunity to contribute to the dialogue, reaffirming YEDIS’s mission to promote inclusive development, foster innovation, and empower young people across developing economies.

Video links

https://youtube.com/shorts/NHPHWho_IuY?si=rKh8Om13UON1ROUh

https://x.com/i/status/2044548831094747388

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18iT2rfKyu/

💡 What to expect:
✔️ Youth-led project showcases and roadshows
✔️ Insights and feedback from mentors and experts
✔️ Virtual visits to global operations of Chinese enterprises
✔️ Interactive discussions on climate action and green development

Outstanding initiatives aligned with the SDGs will also have the opportunity to advance to this year’s Project Week.

Whether you are building a solution, looking to connect or seeking inspiration, this is a space to engage with a growing global community of young changemakers.

🗓️ 25 April | 15:00–17:00 (Beijing time)
🌐 Hybrid event (in-person + online livestream)
👉 Register now: https://lnkd.in/eCfc6_Fp

#YouthAction #ClimateAction #GreenDevelopment #SDGs #YouthInnovation #YouthLeadership