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World Youth Report: Youth Social Entrepreneurship

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The UN DESA's 2019 World Youth Report on Youth Social Entrepreneurship: An Integrated Development Solution Toward the 2030 Agenda examines youth social entrepreneurship through the lens of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also provides policy guidance to Member States for the development of national ecosystems supporting and leveraging youth social entrepreneurship as a tool in the realization of the SDGs.

Entity

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) United Nations system entity

Technical assistance, expertise and implementation; Policy, advocacy and convening power

Sustainable Development Goals & targets

  • 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
  • 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
  • 8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
  • 8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

Themes

Achievement At Glance

On 11 and 12 December 2018, the Division for Inclusive Social Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations organized an Expert Group Meeting at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York under the theme Youth Social Entrepreneurship and the 2030 Agenda.

This Expert Group Meeting brought together 12 experts and representatives from academia, United Nations entities, and intergovernmental organizations as well as young social entrepreneurs, to discuss the following overarching questions: How do young social entrepreneurs support socio-economic advancement, help vulnerable groups access opportunities and ultimately contribute to system change? What is needed for youth social entrepreneurship to be an effective tool towards the 2030 Agenda? How can governments put in place enabling ecosystems for youth social entrepreneurship to significantly help advance the 2030 Agenda?

The results of this meeting are supporting the preparation of the World Youth Report on the same theme. While the scope of the Expert Group Meeting and the World Youth Report is global, special attention is given to developing country contexts.

description

Young people’s desire to “do good” socially while they “do well” economically is translating into a rise in the number of youth social enterprises around the world.  Given this hybrid goal, social enterprises can be particularly apt at generating locally-driven responses to a wide array of issues hindering collective social progress and economic development, and this can ultimately generate opportunities for vulnerable groups and therefore reduce inequalities as well as promote inclusion. In turn, this process can contribute to system change from the grounds up.

For social enterprises to reach their full potential, ecosystems composed of conducive policies and regulatory frameworks need to be put in place. Together, these policies need to foster dynamic skills development, ensure the availability of sufficient financial capital, generate efficient technical support, and develop an enabling infrastructure and regulatory environment. Lastly, an empowering culture and societal norms supportive of social entrepreneurship are also needed to fully reap the benefits of social entrepreneurship. 

In this context, the World Youth Report seeks to:

  • Examine how youth social entrepreneurship represents a financially sustainable and socially transformative tool to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the SDGs.
  • Explore the potential and limits of youth social entrepreneurship as well as its synergies with other types of social and solidarity economy.
  • Offer policy guidance to build empowering, responsive and sustainable national ecosystems for young social entrepreneurs.

https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/world-youth-report.html

Deliverables and links to SDG targets

  • 1 knowledge products on youth employment developed

    8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

    Production of a highly-researched and cutting-edge report offering clear analysis and actionable policy guidance for the creation of enabling national ecosystems supporting and leveraging youth social entrepreneurship as a key tool towards the 2030 Agenda.

    BY: Dec 2019
Global

Start

01-Sep-2018

End

01-Dec-2019

Target: Only young people 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-35

Primarily:
  • Young people in urban areas
  • Young people in rural areas
  • Young women
  • Young men
  • Youth with disabilities
  • Specific ethnic groups
  • Low-income individuals
  • Non-low income individuals
  • Young people with low levels of education and/or drop-outs
  • Graduates of second-level education and students in third-level education or beyond

Gallery

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