Youth economic empowerment depends on the quantity and quality of paid employment, public services, the amount of unpaid work borne by youth, access to productive assets such as land, eliminating cultural and social barriers that make it difficult for youth to become entrepreneurs, and core social and labour protections.

YOTA’s work seeks the realisation of more policies that promote decent work for youth, including closing the gender pay gap, promoting the rights of domestic workers and workers in the informal sector, as well as the voice and representation for youth through trade unions.

Our work ensures that more youth own, launch, and/or manage small, medium, and large enterprises. This includes ensuring youth’s access to digital, financial, technical, and vocational education and training opportunities, as well as leveraging public and private procurement processes to expand opportunities for youth-owned enterprises, and increasing levels of commitment by employers to youth empowerment principles.

We continue to work to ensure that more rural youth secure access to, control over, and use of productive resources and engage in sustainable agriculture to increase their income security, work conditions, and resilience to climate change. This includes support to ensure access to land, information, finance, markets, and vital infrastructure services such as telecommunications, water, and energy.

YOTA’s support includes knowledge and partnerships to strengthen normative and legal frameworks, including promoting the elimination of discriminatory laws, in line with relevant standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO). We advocate for policies that facilitate youth economic participation and promote the sharing of responsibilities for unpaid care work. We leverage innovation and technology to support youth’s access to training and assets. We engage and support the private sector to implement commitments to the economic empowerment of youth.