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Theme and sub-themes

The main theme of the Forum is ‘Boosting Youth Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development.

The Forum features 4 sessions supplemented by 2 dialogues on the afternoons of 15 and 16 December (15 December from 15:00 UCT+8 to 18:00 UCT+8, and 16 December from 15:00 UCT+8 to 17:00 UCT+8).

A detailed agenda will be shared with registered participants. 

Agenda

15th December 2022 (UCT+8)

• 15: 00 - 15: 20: Opening Ceremony
• 15: 20 – 16: 20: Experiences and achievements in youth entrepreneurship education: panel discussion and presentations by experts
• 16: 45 – 17:10: Spotlight of youth action – Youth entrepreneurship advancing the transition to a greener economy
• 17:10 – 18:00: Dialogue on building a sustainable and enabling entrepreneurship education ecosystem.

16^th December 2022 (UCT+8)

• 15:00-15:05: Kick-off video on youth action and sustainable development
• 15:05-15:30: Spotlight of youth action – Youth entrepreneurship supporting poverty alleviation and rural development
• 15:30-16:00: Spotlight of youth action - Youth entrepreneurship promoting digital economy and sustainable development
• 16:00-16:50: Dialogue on youth entrepreneurship and youth action
• 16:50 – 17:00: Closing remarks

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical uncertainties are posing severe challenges to global development, especially as regards to progress toward the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To tackle such unprecedented challenges, the world needs to join hands and mobilize action around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which offer a comprehensive roadmap for an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery. 

China is committed to and supportive of the UN 2030 Agenda. During the UN General Assembly in 2021, China’s President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative to support the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda. The initiative calls for international cooperation on pressing issues, such as poverty alleviation, climate change and green development, industrialization, and the digital economy. The International Labour Organization (ILO) works to support a human-centered recovery and decent work for all. In 2021, the ILO Global Call to Action for a Human-centered Recovery from the COVID-19 Crisis was adopted. It outlines comprehensive measures and commits countries to ensure that their economic and social recovery from the crisis is “fully inclusive, sustainable and resilient”, including promoting inclusive economic growth and employment. Youth employment and entrepreneurship are high on the ILO agenda.

The ILO’s Youth Employment Action Plan 2020-30 aims to promote full, productive, and freely chosen employment and decent work for all young people aspiring to work, and to achieve equality through a transformative, human-centered approach. The ILO, together with other UN agencies, leads the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth. This inclusive global alliance involves various stakeholders to share up-to-date knowledge and best practices, enhance partnerships and mobilize more funding and resources for unleashing the potential of youth entrepreneurship.

Empowering young people as drivers of job creation and economic growth is not only desirable but critical for sustainable development. Entrepreneurship and self-employment provide economic opportunities for the world’s largest population of young people to create more and better jobs in the private sector. This is especially true in developing countries, where over 90 percent of jobs are in the private sector. However, there are multiple constraints to sustainable youth entrepreneurship including a lack of enabling environments, a weak entrepreneurial system, limited access to finance and investment opportunities, and limited skills and knowledge transfer, among others. Among efforts in promoting youth entrepreneurship education, Know About Business (KAB) is an entrepreneurship education programme developed by the ILO, which seeks to prepare young people for the transition from school to the world of work by letting them discover and develop entrepreneurial competencies and basic business management skills through games and exercises. So far the KAB has been implemented in numerous countries and impacted millions of young people to take part in entrepreneurship.

The KAB programme has been active in China for 18 years and successfully integrated into the national socio-economic strategy on youth employment and entrepreneurship. The programme plays an active and important role in serving youth and cultivating talents, especially in strengthening college students' innovative spirit, practical skills, and entrepreneurial abilities. The programme established a comprehensive operational mechanism including training of teachers, teaching research, quality assurance, extracurricular activities, KAB clubs, and so forth, which has been well-received by teachers and students. As of April 2022, more than 11,000 KAB entrepreneurship education teachers from over 1,840 colleges and universities have been trained. KAB Entrepreneurship Clubs for University students have been set up in more than 430 colleges and universities, with a total of 100,000 members admitted per session and thousands of innovative and entrepreneurial practice activities held every year.

Experiences from China and around the globe demonstrate that youth entrepreneurship does not only alleviate youth unemployment and inactivity but also generates innovative solutions to development issues. Against such backdrop, the ILO and All-China Youth Federation, with the support of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth will jointly organize an International Forum on KAB Entrepreneurship Education for Sustainable Development in December 2022. This Forum will provide a high-level platform for exchanges and dialogues among KAB country offices/youth entrepreneurship education institutions, young entrepreneurs, think tanks, enterprises, and other relevant stakeholders. The Forum aims to present KAB entrepreneurship education experience and development, share KAB experiences in the fields of poverty alleviation, green development, and digital economy, and discuss how KAB and broader entrepreneurship activities can contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.