YouthCan! - a global youth employability initiative of SOS Children's Villages

Partnering for youth employability

267 million young people worldwide are neither in employment, education nor training, according to a recent report by the International Labour Organization. Young people who lack adequate parental care are disproportionately affected by this global youth employment crisis and often need a helping hand to successfully transition from school to decent work and independent life – that’s where the YouthCan! global partnership comes in.

In a joint effort between SOS Children’s Villages and private sector partners, employees are mobilized to share their time, skills, expertise, and own career stories, both online and face-to-face, with young people around the world. Five years after the initiative has been launched, 14,485 young people across 42 countries received holistic support through YouthCan!. This was made possible through the commitment and engagement of 1,846 volunteers from 289 partners worldwide

These corporate volunteers support young people unteers during their first work experience as well as offer employability training and mentorship. Through one-to-one and group trainings and mentorship, employees and young people can connect either in-person or through the YouthLinks Community, our new digital platform that can overcome geographical barriers and facilitate worldwide collaborative learning.

Empowering young people in Bangladesh

Bangladesh joined YouthCan! in 2020 as part of the programme’s global network, which now counts over 47 countries. They already reached 521 young people in the first year of implementation, with ages between 14 and 25 years old and an alternative care background. The majority belonged to the 14 to 21 age bracket - at which discussions around leaving care and transitioning to independent living are most needed. Therefore, activities mainly focused on young people’s professional skills development as well as life/soft skills to enhance their job market prospects and to help them to successfully transition to an self-reliant socially integrated and financially independent life. Most activities carried out in 2021 took place in a virtual format through YouthLinks Community. Nowadays also more and more face-to-face interventions are implemented.

YouthCan! Conference in Bangladesh: Leadership towards Sustainable Future

To maintain the positive collaboration with partners and learn from young people themselves how to best address their needs through YouthCan!, SOS Bangladesh organized a conference. During this event, 30 young people actively participated to set the plan of actions for this year and stressed out the importance of: creating opportunities for the job market, skills training and more corporate partnerships joining YouthCan!.

Let’s join forces and support young people in unfolding their full potential

Young people are our future - and they deserve all the support and encouragement we can give! We really need to listen to their voices and care about their challenges, worries and fears.

With YouthCan! we put young people in the center of our efforts and try to empower them in the best possible way to find their way in life! Thanks to everyone who is supporting this great initiative and our young people in Bangladesh. With your help, we are able to empower young people to unfold their full potential and to make their dreams come true. You(th) can!

Picture: YouthCan! Conference in Bangladesh - Copyright: SOS Children’s Villages Bangladesh