Despite their many assets and talents, more and more young people around the world are finding themselves without jobs or livelihoods. An estimated 85 million young men and women are currently unemployed, a nearly 25% increase over the last 10 years. And according to the International Labour Office (ILO), at least 400 million decent and productive jobs will be needed in order to reach the full potential of today's youth.

Critical to most people’s survival, work also helps define a significant part of who we are and what we can achieve. When the fit is right, work taps our creativity and maximizes our potential, enabling us to contribute to society and to build community with those around us. Unemployment, however, erodes confidence, severs connections, and fuels feelings of alienation. Young people just entering the workforce stand on the threshold of truly finding out who they are and what they can contribute. For those who are unsuccessful, the consequences can be devastating and long-term.

IYF’s focus on youth employment follows several mutually reinforcing tracks. We work with our corporate partners to equip young people with the knowledge and skills to actively participate in the "New Economy" through an emphasis on information technology (IT) skills. Likewise, we provide young people with the professional and "life skills" essential to getting and keeping a job. IYF is also collaborating with major global institutions at the policy level to focus greater attention and resources on effective ways to combat youth unemployment worldwide.

Among those IYF-supported initiatives that address youth unemployment are:

• Youth:Work is a Global Development Alliance (GDA) Leader with Associate (LWA) assistance mechanism that USAID missions and bureaus can utilize to access the youth employability programs and services at IYF. The first activity to be funded through Youth:Work is a two-year, US $ 1.5 million expansion of IYF's flagship employability program entra21, in three caribbean countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Grenada, and Jamaica where 700 underserved youth will be supported. Read more.

• Samsung joined IYF in a new partnership providing financial support and cutting-edge technology and expertise to help address the employment needs of Africa's Youth. Read more.

• entra 21: a $25 million initiative with the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank to prepare youth in Latin America and the Caribbean for jobs in the information technology field.

• The Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a two-year partnership led by IYF and Microsoft to improve the employability of disadvantaged African youth, ages 16 to 35, through the provision of demand-driven training in information and communications technology (ICT), life skills, entrepreneurship, and employment services.

• Through participation in the UN’s Youth Employment Network, IYF is working with representatives of public, private, and nonprofit sector institutions to advise and support the UN, the World Bank, and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in developing the Secretary General’s initiative on youth employment.