Youth Employment
Introduction
In 2024, IPASA launched a Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Support initiative driven by both the growing youth unemployment crisis as well as the increasing interest from our members of investing in youth inclusion in the economy. Various national frameworks and institutional strategies have been developed to support unemployed youth, reduce barriers to employment entry, and promote inclusive economic participation but there is a lack of coordination of independent, corporate, and hybrid funders for structured engagement, knowledge sharing and collaboration.
The IPASA Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Support initiative started as a series of workshops convening funders investing in the youth employment and entrepreneurship space together with key stakeholders working in this area, to discuss the major issues in tackling the challenges and developing possible collective solutions for youth economic inclusion. As a next step, in partnership with the Anglo American Foundation, IPASA has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Funder Initiative, a strategic effort to deepen understanding of how philanthropy and corporate foundations can most effectively support youth entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Through this initiative, we hope to promote collaboration among our members as well as other funders investing in this space; strengthen systemic alignment among funders and attract more funding into this area.
This page has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the Subgrantee and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.