The Fund

Supporting Youth Employment Projects in Emerging Sectors

A way forward

2006

Message from the Executive DirectorMessage from the Executive DirectorDear FriendsDear Friends

The YES Campaign began as a glimmer in our eyes in 1998 and now 8 The YES Campaign began as a glimmer in our eyes in 1998 and now 8 years later the issue of youth employment is fully embedded in the global years later the issue of youth employment is fully embedded in the global agenda. With the UN’s YEN leading the way… the YES Country Networks agenda. With the UN’s YEN leading the way… the YES Country Networks play a key role in bringing diverse stakeholders together to fulfill our play a key role in bringing diverse stakeholders together to fulfill our promise to our youth. promise to our youth.

Now is the time to strengthen the efforts of YES and YEN by pulling Now is the time to strengthen the efforts of YES and YEN by pulling together a together a Global Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship Global Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship it is an idea it is an idea whose time has come. In this presentation we have outlined why the time whose time has come. In this presentation we have outlined why the time is right. We are expecting that this Fund will be hosted at an institution is right. We are expecting that this Fund will be hosted at an institution that has the experience to serve in that capacity, and YES will work to build that has the experience to serve in that capacity, and YES will work to build capacity of young people, and that YEN will work on creating an enabling capacity of young people, and that YEN will work on creating an enabling policy environment. And all other partners in the ecology will stand up and policy environment. And all other partners in the ecology will stand up and play their part. play their part.

Please view this as just a concept note that needs your comments and Please view this as just a concept note that needs your comments and support.support.

In solidarity Poonam AhluwaliaIn solidarity Poonam Ahluwalia

The FundTable of Contents

1. The Twin Opportunities

2. The YES Campaign’s Solution

3. The YES Campaign Fund

4. Sector Solutions

5. YES Background Information

1. The Twin Opportunities

The Fund

The FundThe Twin Opportunities

Developing countries currently face two sets of pressing problems:

Imagine if we could solve both of these problems at once?

Sector Development Needs Youth Unemployment

• Renewable Energy: 2 billion people lack access to energy/electricity

• Water & Sanitation: 2.5 billion people lack access to clean water and sanitation

• Rural Development: 60% of the developing world still live in rural areas

• Information & Communication Technologies: barely 2% of the world population has internet access

• HIV/Aids: 95% of the estimated 38 million people infected with HIV live in developing countries

• There are currently 1 billion young people between the ages of 15-24

850 million of these are living in developing countries

• Over the next 30 years, this number will increase by another 1.2 billion, mostly in developing countries

• Young people are cognizant of the inequities of the global system, and are susceptible to association with the negative forces in their communities

• It is critical that youth employment opportunities are developed

The Fund

Unemployment of youth has far-reaching implications on the labour market and the society at large. Youth unemployment contributes to economic exclusion and poverty and increases the probability of future joblessness. Youth unemployment results in the loss of a valuable contribution to economic activity and growth from one of the most productive elements in society. It obstructs the movement of young people from adolescence to adulthood and in turn is a major cause of crime and drug abuse. High levels of youth unemployment can also lead to alienation from society and distrust of democratic political processes. As a result, social cohesion is undermined.”

International Labour Organization’s World Employment Report 1998/99

2. The YES Campaign’s Solution

The Fund

The FundIntroduction to the YES Campaign

• The YES Campaign was launched in Egypt in September 2002 by over 1,600 delegates from 120 countries, under the Co Chair of Suzanne Mubarak and President Bill Clinton

• The campaign was launched in response to the enormous global challenge of youth unemployment affecting millions of young people around the world the goals to

build the capacity of young people to create sustainable livelihoods

establish an entrepreneurial culture where youth will work towards self employment

• Today, in over 60 countries youth-led YES Networks work with stakeholder groups such as the government, business, academics, NGOs, UN agencies etc. to develop programs, and suggest policies for promoting youth employment

• These YES Networks are supported by 5 regional coordinators, and the YES Headquarters in Boston

• Additionally, the YES Campaign works with national and global partners to develop and deploy effective programs that realize the following objectives

Develop capacity of youth to lead in-country youth employment initiatives

Promote (in-country) youth employment to address key development challenges

Build in-country coalitions to develop national strategies addressing youth unemployment

We have placed the issue of youth employment on the global agenda.

The FundThe Evolution of the YES Campaign

1998 2002 2005 2008 2012

Identifying the issues

Building consensus

Generating ideas

Supporting the development of 60 YES Country Networks

Advocacy with leaders and institutions

Identifying sectors for employment and doing pilot work

Establishing the YES Academy – an international R&D hub for generating employment

• Building Partnerships

• Creating employment generation models in YES Network countries

• Building in-country self-reliance

• Replicating and scaling up employment generating programs

We have made great progress in building knowledge and infrastructure.

The FundThe 70 YES Country Networks

…are youth-led national-level coalitions focused on promoting youth employment

Manifesting two core design principles that drive the YES Campaign’s work

the recognition that no one individual or institution can do the work alone; working in partnership is essential

our belief in building self reliance and absorption capacity in our YES Network countries

Networks exist from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe!

JOIN US

There is a YES Event organized somewhere in the world every other day!

The FundYES Country Networks

Afghanistan

Albania

Angola

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bangladesh

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Canada

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cote D’Ivoire

Dominican Republic

Egypt***

El Salvador

Gambia

Georgia***

Ghana

Guatemala

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

India***

Iran

Jordan

Kenya

Liberia

Malaysia

Malawi

Mali

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova

Mozambique

Namibia

Nepal

Nigeria

Pakistan

Panama***

Paraguay

Philippines

Peru

Romania

Rwanda

Senegal

Serbia & Montenegro

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa***

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

USA

Uruguay

Zambia

Zimbabwe

*** Site of Regional Coordinator

The FundYES Global Activities

Outreach & Engagement

• Building strategic alliances and fostering partnerships – Over 6000 members of the YES Global Alliance

• Seeking and developing programs – Over 100 programs and projects

• Communicating information about youth employment and the YES Campaign through newsletters, press releases, the website, electronic discussion groups, toolkits, and publications. Over 50 original publications

• Convening Global Summits, organizing regional and national training workshops and Forums. Hosted 2 global and 2 Regional Summits

Knowledge Development

• Designing and implementing youth employment pilot projects centered around the Campaign’s five key sectors

• Conducting policy analysis and publishing policy briefs

• Managing the Global Knowledge Resource (GKR) a resource database and communication medium where all stakeholders of youth employment can share and access innovative initiatives, useful toolkits, and comprehensive research and publications

• Managing the YES Academy, a hub for youth employment initiatives located in India

We are at the forefront of youth unemployment advocacy and research.

The FundYES Global Activities

Capacity Building

• Supporting the formation and development of YES Country Networks, youth-led entities comprised of diverse stakeholders groups committed to the issue of promoting youth employment

• Supporting the YES Country Networks in the following activities: Consultations: Hosting national level consultations with governments, private sector, academic

institutions, education and training organizations and NGOS and youth groups to build the national coalition for youth employment

Partnership Building: Building partnerships for developing and implementing projects

Action Plans: Preparing country action plans and reports to inform stakeholders

Entrepreneurship Development: Promoting an entrepreneurial culture through workshops and materials; developing programs to provide business development services to young people; working with banks and government agencies to provide credit and to provide credit and other services to youth

Understanding Markets: Understanding the needs of the market place and creating products and services to serve the market and to help in enterprise development

Mobilizing Resources: Building the capacity of YES Network leadership to identify needs, develop projects, build partnerships, mobilize resources and implement projects

Build Absorption Capacity: Working to make the YES Networks sustainable and effective and able to absorb the resources available for its development

We excel in a catalyzing youth-led employment creation programs.

3. The YES Fund

For Youth Employment

The Fund

The FundOur Request

Invest in the YES Fund

The Problem:

Over one billion youth in the labor market

No real jobs in the public or private sectors

Solution:

Creating Markets

Unleashing Entrepreneurship

What will the YES Fund do:

Offer a mix of grants, loans and technical assistance to young entrepreneurs

Support will be offered to those countries that have arranged matching funds

YOU CAN invest as a

A traditional philanthropic donor

A micro-finance creditor

A venture capital angel investor

A private donor at any level comfortable for you…it will take all of US!

We seek your help in raising a fund to turn our knowledge into action.

“Let us be clear. Half-educated, unemployed youth, with no prospect of being integrated into a better future is a prescription for disaster. If young people do not have a stake in the existing social order and political order, if they do not feel there is a way for them, why should they sacrifice today for a better tomorrow? Why should they have an interest in protecting the stability and social safety of that system?”

Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Vice President, World Bank, 1999

The FundOur Track Record

The YES Campaign is uniquely positioned to leverage your investment.

We need a New Deal for Youth Employment

What is Missing… is the WILL

…will we?

“The YES Campaign recognizes that it is only through employment, that we can accomplish conditions of freedom, democracy and equity, where youth can live in dignity and relate to the society and the environment in a truly sustainable way”.

-Dr. Mohamed T El Ashry, CEO GEF, September 2002

Renewable Energy: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Global Environment Facility have worked with us to train and develop RE entrepreneurs

Water & Sanitation: With the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and others, we are currently developing a plan to develop income-generating programs in this sector

Rural Development: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Youth Employment Network (YEN), UNIDO, and the YES Campaign are preparing a project for East Africa for promoting agribusiness among youth

Information & Communication Technologies: With the IT department of the Ministry of Technology in India the YES Campaign is proposing to set up 200 Knowledge Centers to train youth in ICT skills, and serve as an information hub for local communities

HIV/AIDS: YES Campaign staff has worked with the USAID-funded program Equip 3 in Southern Africa to prepare a livelihoods based strategy for prevention

The Fund

DONATIONS LOANS EQUITYInvestment Options

Fund Goals To create jobs for unemployed youth in the 5 development sectors

Investment Beneficiary

Knowledge & Training

Individual Youth Entrepreneurs

New or Growing Enterprises

Investment Use

• Fund “knowledge and employment centers” that provide job-skills training classes and practical experience

• Provide small loans (with interest return) to local youth entrepreneurs looking to start businesses

• Provide capital and strategic advice to young and growing businesses in return for an ownership stake

Job CreationImpact

• Prepare youth for the working world

• Help build youth employment opportunities

• Create many new jobs as businesses grow

Overview of the Fund

The Fund will offer various avenues for investment and return.

The FundDonations Investments

• The YES Campaign needs your investment to help strengthen local infrastructure for developing young entrepreneurs

• The donations will be used to create Knowledge and Research centers that will offer Youth Leadership Training

Green Enterprise Training

Social Entrepreneurship Training

Fundraising Training

Livelihoods Internship Programs

• As well as supporting youth in Youth Led Innovative Program Implementation

Seed Grant Projects for Entrepreneurship Development

Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships for program design

Building local capacity for program implementation

Using new technologies for livelihood generation

Community Driven Development

Designing Collaborative Projects

Donations will impact scores of youth creating employment programs.

The FundLoans Investments

• We will work with you to select the young people and train then to design business solutions in the five development sectors

Renewable Energy

Water & Sanitation

Rural Development

Information & Communication Technologies

HIV/AIDS

• The YES Fund seeks to provide the start-up capital to help these entrepreneurs launch their business ideas

• Many of these investments will be made in the form of micro-credit loans that will offer investors both a return of principal and interest

• Micro-credit has been proven to act as a catalyst for both new employment-generating ventures and reliable investor returns

• The YES Campaign will leverage its local knowledge and experience as well as commercial and government partnerships to implement this investment initiative

Loans to young entrepreneurs will spur crucial development solutions.

The FundEquity Investments

• In the medium-term, many of the development projects inspired and supported by YES Campaign initiatives will be in phases of fruition and growth

• The YES Campaign Fund aims to be in a position to provide significant capital to young and growing enterprises to further our two goals of creating employment and developing sector infrastructure

• Because the YES Campaign prefers market-based solutions and understands that hand-outs are not the best long-term answer, the Fund will make capital contributions in the form of equity

• These contributions will ensure aligned incentives, long-term sustainability and an investment return to our investors

• Additionally, our investors can leverage their business backgrounds and provide strategic advice to the youth entrepreneurs

• Creating a culture of market-driven ownership and investment will catalyze long-term systemic change in the developing world

Equity investments are the final step in ensuring lasting enterprises.

4. Sector Solutions

The Fund

The FundRenewable Energy

• Organize young people at the community level to assemble, install, service and market renewable energy systems

• Provide renewable energy entrepreneurship training and seed grants or access to microfinance credit for innovative youth to launch their own renewable energy enterprise such as

providing energy for agro-based industries for making fruit pulp and juices, pickles, and drying vegetables

manufacturing of home lighting systems - lights, fans and small refrigerators for storing medication, milk

Designing and installing small power plants for institutions

maintenance of renewable energy systems and selling and installing small home systems such as solar panels

manufacturing of solar lanterns for fishing activities during the night and renewable energy based ICTs to enhance access to income generation opportunities, especially in rural areas

solar cookers

installation and maintenance of solar powered community facilities in rural areas

The FundRural Development (On-Farm and Off-Farm)

• Orient agricultural extension programs towards youth, which includes

preparing then to set up small enterprises

working with credit institutions to help youth build productive assets such as land, livestock, equipment and others

vocational training, micro-entrepreneurship in the curriculum targeting young women

identifying, natural resource based micro enterprises, and offering rural youth business development services to start such enterprises

building an understanding of how agro-business value chains work and supporting rural youth entrepreneurs in producing value-added farm products

The FundWater & Sanitation

• Integrate youth in community management processes to improve the availability and supply of clean drinking water, sanitation services, and environmental conditions through

research, develop and disseminate information on water and sanitation sector, to inform and support behavioral change at the village level

support income-generating programs in rain water-harvesting, storage and supply

organizing community level training for youth to build and maintain low cost toilets in rural areas and tackle the sanitation needs of people in villages

training youth to build and maintain hand pumps to provide water supply to rural communities

The FundInformation Communication Technology

• Develop programs to support ICT-based entrepreneurship through

Knowledge Centers that provide information and a business development network that seeks to link youth entrepreneurs, interns, investors, incubators with each other

“Youth in Business Centers” to support developing business ideas, explore credit options and financial management, and assist in marketing, product development

training youth in web based services such as website development and e-marketing

training youth as educators and mentors for distance learning and business development

supporting agriculture though ICT tools

incorporating the use of ICTs to support the educational programs for the students of the elementary and middle schools in the communities

The FundReproductive Health & HIV/Aids

• Improve the reproductive health and family planning choices of women through

life skills and leadership trainings with reproductive health messages embedded

providing vocational, professional and entrepreneurial trainings

conducting pilot programs to evaluate the correlation between economic empowerment and improved reproductive health status

improve the livelihood opportunities of youth living with HIV/AIDS - training them in “positive living”, peer/educators/mentors, establishing a support and mentorship network

strengthen services by introducing a greater focus on youth livelihood initiatives, and supporting the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the delivery of youth-friendly HIV/AIDS and reproductive heath services

5. YES Background Information

The Fund

The FundYES Campaign Leadership

Campaign Committee• Hafsat Abiola, Director, KIND• Nahas Angula, Prime Minister, Namibia• Jennifer Corriero, Co-Founder, TakingITGlobal• José-María Figueres, President of Costa Rica (1994-98)• Samuel González, President, Fundacion E• Koosum Kalyan, Shell International• Regina Monticone, Secretary, Youth Employment Network• Sithembiso Nyoni, Founder, ORAP• Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA• Ismail Serageldin, DG, Library of Alexandria• M. S. Swaminathan, World Food Prize Laureate• Anna K. Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN-Habitat• Janet Whitla, President Emeritus, Education Development Center

PresidentPoonam AhluwaliaYouth Employment Summit (YES) CampaignCambridge College, 1000 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138 USAEmail: poonam@yesweb.org

The FundYES Country Networks

Afghanistan

Albania

Angola

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bangladesh

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Canada

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Cote D’Ivoire

Dominican Republic

Egypt***

El Salvador

Gambia

Georgia***

Ghana

Guatemala

Guinea Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

India***

Iran

Jordan

Kenya

Liberia

Malaysia

Malawi

Mali

Mauritius

Mexico

Moldova

Mozambique

Namibia

Nepal

Nigeria

Pakistan

Panama***

Paraguay

Philippines

Peru

Romania

Rwanda

Senegal

Serbia & Montenegro

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa***

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

USA

Uruguay

Zambia

Zimbabwe

*** Site of Regional Coordinator

The FundRecent Project Successes

India - The UNIDO/India Renewable Energy (RE) project had 4 major outcomes:

• Created a RE Center for Excellence at the SRT Rural Institute (SRTRI), in Andhra Pradesh

• Established a Solar Laboratory at SRTRI

• Trained about 100 young people as technicians and entrepreneurs in RE

• Worked with Shell Solar and other businesses to tailor the curriculum to their needs, and almost 40 percent of the trainees were hired by private business

Zambia - UNIDO/Zambia Renewable Energy (RE) project had 4 major outcomes:

• The creation of a RE lab at the Elias Mutale Training Centre, in Kasama, Zambia

• Training 50 Master Trainers in renewable energy enterprise development, and an additional 250 youth trained by these master trainers

• A microfinance plan developed for the government

• A vibrant RE enterprise development network created of institutions, experts, NGOs, youth, membership drawn from all 23 districts in Zambia

Global Environment Facility (GEF) – The Renewable Energy Fellowship program:

• 5 Youth selected in competitive process (from Georgia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Peru)

• Training delivered in renewable energy, leadership and entrepreneurship

• Business planning assistance and start-up funding provided for businesses in Portable Photovoltaic Panels Production and Distribution Wind Power Mills and Turbines for Farming Solar Equipment –lanterns, box cookers Wind Energy to Pump Water for Communities Bio-digesters and Solar Cookers through Bio-mass

The FundThe YES Framework for Action

Employability

Equity

Entrepreneurship

Empowerment of Youth

Employment Generation

Environmental Sustainability

Focus Areas for YES Inc.Focus Areas for YES Inc.

Develop the YES FundDevelop the YES Fund Build capacity of the 84 Country Build capacity of the 84 Country

NetworksNetworks Organize the 3 remaining Summits Organize the 3 remaining Summits

(2008, 2010 & 2012)(2008, 2010 & 2012) YES AcademiesYES Academies

The FundMESSAGE

Each and everyone of us must assume a personal responsibility to embrace a new spirit of global collaboration for building secure communities full of productive work for young people. For any one of us to succeed we must all succeed as ONE world.

President William J. Clinton, Co Chair

1st Global Youth Employment Summit

Alexandria, Egypt