2013 State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities

"Youth economic opportunity programming increasingly endeavors to reach young people in rural areas....While there is a growing body of research and practitioner experience, there is much to learn....The synchronous emergence of mobile technology, ubiquitous access to high-powered tools, and powerful data analytics carries the potential to widen or converge inequalities across regions and between generations."

The 2013 "State of the Field" report, which emerged from the 2012 Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference (GYEOC) (Washington, DC, United States), is oriented around empowering adolescents, economically, in rural areas. The conference contained two spotlights: (i) "Opportunities for Rural Youth", which focused on how to support youth in rural areas; and (ii) "Power of Technology", which shared concrete examples of how technology is being used in youth economic opportunity (YEO) programming and how organisations are supporting youth in their efforts to start a business or get a job in growth-oriented information and communication technology (ICT) sectors. YEO includes: youth (ages 15-24) and young people (ages 10-14 years old and sometimes younger children)

The report looks at the field of YEO with a focus on 5 learning tracks:

1. Workforce Development (WfD) - "This chapter explores these challenges, while revealing programmatic and policy approaches designed to address them. Among those challenges cited were defining and supporting soft skills development, ensuring education and training are geared towards the learner and actually lead to jobs, establishing stronger connections between job skills training and employers' needs, and working with and serving specific youth populations in diverse contexts."
2. Youth Enterprise Development (YED) - "Stakeholders in the YED field are engaged in a dialogue both about innovation on a large-scale - such as new approaches - as well as less dramatic, yet equally important, adaptations or innovations at a smaller scale that are critical to improving the quality of interventions." This chapter explores some of the innovations.
3. Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) - "The holistic nature of AGYW programming can often complicate evaluation - many programs simultaneously address education, health, protection, and economic opportunity outcomes. At the 2012 GYEOC, presenters shared exciting results from 'integrated programs' that explore the synergies between health and economic outcomes for adolescent girls and young women. In addition, participants shared experiences from local and global advocacy campaigns designed to raise awareness about AGYW, mobilize young people as advocates, and change legislation that directly impacts adolescent girls and young women."
4. Youth-Inclusive Financial Services (YFS) and Capabilities - This chapter provides guidance to YFS practitioners addressing opportunities and challenges at the national, institutional, and product level. It provides practical tips and examples of innovative policies or programmes that promote youth financial education and access to youth-friendly financial services. One part of the chapter outlines new evidence-based guidelines for developing youth savings products and sheds light on funding mechanisms for youth-owned start-up small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This section also analyses how behavioural economics can aid in designing effective strategies for promoting savings habits among youth.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Impact Assessment (M&E) - "M&E experiences highlighted at the 2012 GYEOC show how the sector is moving toward a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how (and when) impact and process evaluation can contribute to better programs. Participants also discussed how best to align questions, methods, and tools to produce rich and informative information. They also shared new tools."

Other chapters include:

• Donor Strategies and Initiatives - one focus is on sharing best practices between their networks of grantees.
• Recent Research Findings and Convenings - one section examines the strategy of integrating youth perspectives, opinions, and experiences into research efforts.
• Youth Coalitions and New Initiatives - the focus here is on: the Alliance for International Youth Development (AIYD), the Coalition for Adolescent Girls (CAG), the Arab Youth Network, and the Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI).
• Conclusion - various lessons learned are provided, such as promoting young people as problem-solvers, creating enabling environments, bridging programmes and policy, linking evidence to learning, and harnessing technology.
• Annexes