YOUNG PEOPLEInvesting inFINANCIAL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT | Friday January 27 2012

www.ft.com/young­people­2012 | twitter.com/ftreports

Online Mideast FocusSchemes to helpcreate work havebeen lent a newurgency by theArab uprisings

Judging by the demographicmake-up of everything from theArab uprising to protestsagainst rising tuition fees and

the Occupy movement, 2011 was ayear in which young people’s voicesachieved unprecedented prominence.

Yet, while many celebrate the factthat these voices, at least partlythanks to social media, are increas-ingly powerful, the protests have alsohighlighted the severe challengesmany young people face.

For some, the problems are as basicas lack of food or healthcare. Almost athird of children in developing coun-tries are malnourished, according toUnicef, the United Nations’ children’sagency, with 150m underweight and175m stunted in height because ofchronic illness and poor diet.

For those not threatened by malnu-trition or disease, joblessness canbring a sense of hopelessness and iso-lation from both the mainstreameconomy and the political process.

“In some ways, the Arab spring hasbrought home to us a reality,” saysWilliam Reese, president and chiefexecutive of the International YouthFoundation. “Those young peoplewere disempowered – politically andeconomically.”

The global financial crisis hasunderlined the fragility of youth inthe labour market. At the end of 2010,more than 75m young people world-wide were struggling to find work,according to the International LabourOrganization (ILO).

The rate of youth unemploymenthas risen sharply as a result of thecrisis. Between 2008 and 2009, itincreased by an unprecedented 4.5m,according to the ILO. The averageincrease between 1997 and 2007 wasfewer than 100,000 a year.

Young people in mature marketshave borne the brunt of the unem-ployment pain, with developed econo-mies and European Union marketsexperiencing youth unemploymentnumbers and rates higher in 2010 thanany time since the ILO began record-ing them in 1991.

And, while – globally – more peopleare graduating from universities,those armed with a degree alsonumber among those finding it hardto get a job.

“In Egypt, you have kids with acollege education still living at homebecause they can’t afford to get mar-ried, start a family or have their ownhome because they don’t have a job,”says Mr Reese. “So you’ve got a lot ofdisaffected middle-class people, too.”

Mattias Lundberg, senior economistin the World Bank’s Human Develop-ment Network, is more optimistic.“This is a deep crisis, but we willrecover from it,” he says.

Nevertheless, he acknowledges thatseismic shifts in the world economycaused by slowing growth in industr-ialised nations mean that while oppor-tunities are opening up for some, lifefor others will get tougher.

“It’s going to be harder for someonefrom a wealthy country to competewith a young person in the developingworld,” he says. “On balance, and forthe world, that’s a great thing, but itmakes life harder for those who areused to competing with a smallergroup.”

Meanwhile, technology is transform-ing the lives of young people. Therapid growth in social networking is

connecting young people to eachother in ways that would have beenimpossible in the past, helping themexpress their views to mass audiencesand rally supporters to causes theycare about.

Mr Lundberg points to the big risein the number of social media users inthe five years since the World Banklaunched its last World DevelopmentReport, which focused on young peo-ple. “In December 2006, Facebook had12m users. In September 2011, it hadmore than 800m users,” he says. “Soon that level, the world is a very dif-ferent place from five years ago.”

However, social media networkingsites, such as Twitter and Facebook,cannot alone give young people thetechnical and life skills they need tothrive in the global economy.

And while it is one thing to work onincreasing literacy rates amongschoolchildren, it is more challengingto assist young people who havedropped out of the education system,who are unemployed, and who mayeven have children of their own.

“There’s been a fair amount ofprogress in terms of numbers ofpeople staying in schools and gettinga basic education,” says Mr Reese.“But youth development is not alwaysembraced, because it’s harder tofigure out and requires larger partsof government and business than itdoes to get a seven-year-old intoschool.”

Moreover, among the current gener-ation of 18-35s, prospects vary wildly.“There’s a large group at the bottomthat isn’t getting the basic buildingblock skills and is falling off the edgeof the earth,” says Bill Drayton,founder and chair of Ashoka, a lead-ing US non-profit organisation thatidentifies and supports social entre-preneurs.

But Mr Drayton also sees largegroups of young people who have ahunger to change the world. As partof Ashoka’s efforts to help them do so,AshokaU supports university campusteams that want to promote socialentrepreneurship and social innova-tion. Given the numbers of young peo-ple now entering the workforce as aresult of the demographic “youthbulge”, the private sector in its cur-rent form will not be able to providesufficient jobs, so promoting entrepre-neurship will be essential.

“We have to think about expandingself-employment and entrepreneur-ship and providing opportunities foryoung people to take advantage oftheir creativity and innovation,” saysMr Lundberg. “Otherwise, we won’tget out of this vicious cycle of unem-ployment.”

In the marketplace, however, youngentrepreneurs often face burdensomebureaucracy and a lack of access tocredit, advice and networks, making ithard for them to turn their ideas into

businesses that might create jobs forthemselves and others. The privatesector, however, has a role to play insupporting these young entrepreneursin a variety of ways. Youth BusinessInternational, a network of non-profitgroups, taps into the business skills ofits members to provide leadershipskills, training, access to capital andmentoring for young entrepreneurs.

Microsoft, for example, has devel-oped an entrepreneurship curriculumthat helps young people build theirown technology businesses.

And in 2010, a partnership wasestablished between the US Agency

for International Development(USAID) and Cisco’s EntrepreneurInstitute and Networking Academyprogramme to promote workforcedevelopment and entrepreneurship inemerging economies.

Yet the path to entrepreneurshipneeds to begin at an earlier stage,says Mr Drayton.

He believes that young people needto be encouraged to think that theyhave the potential to bring aboutchange, but argues that traditionalschooling does not create this culture.

“Society doesn’t understand howcritical this is,” he says. “We think

growing up is about learning knowl-edge and rules. But in fact, we wantyoung people to have it in their headsthat they can change the world.”

This approach, argue many develop-ment experts, is critical, given thepotential for young people to improvetheir own prospects and to help solvesocial and economic problems.

“Young people are part of thesolution and not just part of theproblem,” says Mr Reese.

“They are problem solvers – andthey are not just tomorrow’s leaders.They can also play a role in helpingsociety today.”

Jobless generation hungry for changeSocial media networksmay let tomorrow’s adultstalk and mobilise but theydo not confer life skills,writes Sarah Murray

Inside this issueUrban livingThe youngergeneration canhave a positivepart in developingcities Page 2

LeadershipTraining newentrepreneurs can benefitcommunities Page 2

African focus Improvedemployment prospects are crucialfor future stability Page 3

Non­profit sector Barriers determany youngsters from signing upfor voluntary work Page 3

Policy change USAID aims tohelp young people improve theireconomies’ gross domestic productfigures Page 3

Northern England European Unioncash is helping one college to booststart­up creation and job prospectsPage 4

Chinese view Obstacles litter thepath to achieving simple dreams,such as decent housing Page 4

Universities’ role Even those whoobtain degrees find they need to domore to get a job Page 4

Taking to the streets: thousands of students protest against youth unemployment and education budget cuts in Rome, Italy, last October. Europe has been badly hit by joblessness among the young Getty

When Camila Vallejo ralliedtens of thousands of stu-dents across Chile to takepart in months of protestslast year, she put a face to anew generation of frus-trated Latin Americanyouth.

“Our fight is not versusthe police or to destroycommercial shops,” the 23-year-old activist declared.“Our fight is to recover theright to education.” But theprotests, which began withpeaceful sit-ins and “kiss-ins”, quickly turned violent.

At the peak of the “Chil-ean winter”, as the cam-paign came to be called,

police arrested almost 900students in a single dayagainst a background oflooting and violent clashes.

In all of Latin America,Chile seemed an unlikelylocation for such unrest.With two decades of politi-cal stability and strong eco-nomic growth behind it, thecountry had earned a repu-tation as an oasis of calm.

The region’s fifth-biggesteconomy bounced backfrom an earthquake in 2010and the global financialdownturn in 2008 to grow at6.6 per cent last year.

But the salutary lessonfor the rest of Latin Amer-ica is Chile’s failure to van-quish the region’s old foe –inequality. Despite signifi-cant economic and socialgains in the past decade,Latin America still has theworld’s highest levels ofinequality.

According to the Organi-sation for Economic Co-

operation and Development,Chile’s schools and collegesare the second most segre-gated in the region, afterPeru, when it comes tosocial class.

As the student protesters’banners pointed out, accessto a quality education inChile is still largely the pre-serve of the privileged:“Five years studying, 15years paying.”

“We are talking about abetter-informed, more ambi-tious generation of youngpeople in Latin America.Their dreams and aspira-tions are greater than theirparents,” says GuillermoDema, Latin America spe-cialist at the InternationalLabour Organization (ILO).

He adds: “When theycan’t find a job or a place inuniversity, the levels offrustration are enormous.”

While the average unem-ployment rate across LatinAmerica and the Caribbean

was 6.8 per cent last year,the lowest since the mid-1990s, youth unemploymentis running at 14.9 per cent,the ILO said in a report thismonth.

About 20 per cent of peo-ple aged 15-24 have slippedinto the ni-ni – Spanish for“neither-nor” – generation,Mr Dema says. They areneither working nor study-ing, and their chances ofentering formal employ-ment are limited.

Colombia had the highestproportion of ni-nis, MrDema says, with 26 per cent

Chile protests provide asalutary lesson to regionLatin AmericaInequality, the oldfoe, has yet to bevanquished, writesNaomi Mapstone

Camila Vallejo: equality call

Continued on Page 2

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2012

Investing in Young People

of all youth out of a job andout of the education system.

Unemployment rates foryoung women are substan-tially higher, as are therates for young people ofAfrican descent, principallyin Brazil, Colombia, CostaRica, Ecuador, El Salvador,Guatemala, Honduras, Nica-ragua, Panama, Peru andUruguay.

In a region in which 40per cent of the population isunder 30, governments andprivate entities are strug-gling to build on economicadvances and improve thelots of the ni-ni generation.

Public policies targetingpoverty, inequality and theregion’s sprawling informalsectors include cash trans-fer schemes for those livingin extreme poverty, job cre-ation, tax, education andsocial security reforms.

Mr Dema says Brazil hasdone better than most of itsneighbours at strengthen-ing school-to-work transi-tions and supporting theunemployed.

Chile, in the wake ofthe student protests, has

increased scholarships, low-ered interest rates on stu-dent loans from 6 per centto 2 per cent and offeredsubsidies to young workerson low wages. Colombia isplanning 250,000 new train-ing places for unemployedyouth.

Jurgen Weller, a senior

economist at the UNEconomic Commission forLatin America (ECLAC)and the Caribbean in San-tiago, says moves to boosttechnical education are cru-cial to building on improve-ments in access.

“Typically, young peoplewho finish secondary schoolaspire to university and, ifthey don’t make it, they feellike losers. There is a lack

of technical courses provid-ing a good, faster, interme-diate qualification,” hesays.

ECLAC is cautiously fore-casting 3.7 per cent eco-nomic growth across theregion this year, dependingon how the European andNorth American economieshold up.

Over the past decade,poverty has fallen from 50per cent to 30 per cent andinequality has steadilydeclined.

But Mr Weller points outthat education reforms arestructural and long-term,and often fraught with ten-sions between students,teachers and other parties.

“Many of the countries inSouth America havereceived a big boost fromnatural resources demandfrom Asia, above all China.Their economies havegrown, and generatedemployment and dyna-mism,” says Mr Weller.

“But it’s not simply amatter of resources. Thereare many actors that haveto agree [on reforms suchas education]. There has tobe a social pact for change.”

Chilean protesters provide asalutary lesson to the region

ContributorsSarah MurrayContributing Editor

Simon MundyCompanies Reporter

Andrew BoundsEnterprise Editor

Alison MaitlandFT Contributor

Naomi MapstoneAndean Correspondent

Stephanie GrayFT Commissioning Editor

Kathrin HilleBeijing Correspondent

Online ContributorAbeer AllamSaudi ArabiaCorrespondent

Adam JezardEditorial Production

Steven BirdDesigner

Andy MearsPicture Editor

For advertising details,contact Hope Kaye on:(+1) 212 641 6548 oremail hope.kaye@ft.com,or your usualrepresentative

All FT Reports areavailable on FT.com atwww.ft.com/reports

‘Many SouthAmerica countrieshave received ahuge boost fromnatural resourcesdemand from Asia,above all China’

Continued from Page 1

A s a teenager growing up on arough north London estate,Hammis got involved ingang culture, was excluded

from school and, as he says, was “anuisance in the community”. But thedeath of a relative who was kidnappedand thrown off a roof shocked himinto changing his ways.

He started taking part in footballsessions on the estate led by Kickz,one of Arsenal Football Club’s socialinclusion programmes. A coach askedHammis if he wanted to go on a firstaid course and, when he failed to turnup, asked again. Hammis went along“to get [the coach] off my back”. How-ever, his led him to other training andqualifications via Arsenal in the Com-munity’s Future Jobs Fund, a govern-

ment-funded employability scheme.Now 24, he has become a positive

role model, leading Kickz sessions,talking to teenagers about the pitfallsof gang and drug cultures, and men-toring young people from the estatesas they go through courses that offerthem the chance of better lives.

“Yes, I have leadership skills, butwhere I had an influence on peoplebefore it was in a negative way,” hesays. “Now young men in the areawhere I grew up are looking at meand saying: ‘He’s doing somethingpositive. If he can do it, so can I.’

“They’re the next ones in line. If Igive them the right words of wisdomand they follow the path I’m on now,they will be the leaders when I moveon, and it should break the cycle ofviolence.”

Gaining leadership experience canbe challenging for young people, evenwhen their circumstances are not soextreme.

Ashok Regmi, director of socialinnovation at the International YouthFoundation (IYF), says the opening upof societies and the advance of tech-

nology and social media in recentyears have given young peopleunprecedented opportunities to maketheir voices heard and find ways tomake change happen fast.

But the choice to go further in thefield often comes after they have beeninvolved in community activism orsocial enterprise for 12 to 18 monthsand have to decide whether to moveto the next level or hand over tosomeone else.

This is where leadership training,funding and advocacy opportunitiesoffered by IYF’s YouthActionNet pro-gramme can be useful.

“They need to become reflectiveleaders by learning from their fail-ures,” says Mr Regmi. “They alsoneed skills in building a business, dif-ferentiating themselves in a crowdedmarketplace, and advocating theircause, which is about showing thenumbers and telling the stories.”

YouthActionNet, which has a rangeof partners including Starbucks andLaureate International Universities,has supported 600 social entrepre-neurs and projects, and established

programmes in 10 countries, he says.It aims to nurture up to 1,700 entre-preneurs in 24 countries by 2015.

The leadership programmes com-bine peer-to-peer learning with men-toring by experienced adults. “Westart with the assumption that theknowledge is with the young people,”he says.

One beneficiary is Kumari Middle-

ton, 26, who co-founded Mayibuye, asocial enterprise empowering vulnera-ble young people in Australia, Cambo-dia and South Africa through per-forming arts. She applied to YoungSocial Pioneers, a YouthActionNetscheme run by the Foundation forYoung Australians, which helps

develop 14 change-making ventures ayear.

“Things were growing fast and Ididn’t have the skills to keep up,” MsMiddleton says. “You do workshopson things such as media training,sponsorship and grants. You getlinked up with mentors who haveexperience doing these things.”

Jan Owen, chief executive of theFoundation for Young Australians,says leadership is becoming morecomplex. Influence rather than com-mand and control is the path for thefuture. She says: “The young people Isee in – or seeking – leadership posi-tions are hungry for new ways ofworking with others. They want toget their hands dirty and to immersethemselves fully. They are not afraidto learn and grab every opportunity todo so.”

Founding a business requires confi-dence, which can be a challenge foryoung people, says Andrew Deven-port, chief executive of Youth Busi-ness International (YBI), which workswith governments, companies andmultilateral agencies to support aspir-

ing entrepreneurs aged 18-35. “To be asuccessful entrepreneur, you need tobe a leader in some form or another,”Mr Davenport says. “It’s about takingrisks, investing capital, hiring staffand managing people. We’re lookingto develop these skills and the confi-dence to make the right judgments.”

Amena Begum, founder of Amir Tai-lors and Boutique in Bangladesh,faced huge obstacles, having enteredan arranged marriage at 13 and beenforced to leave school at 15. When herhusband became terminally ill, shetook up sewing to provide for her chil-dren.

With a small loan and a businessmentor from Bangladesh Youth Enter-prise and Helpcentre, a YBI member,she has grown her cottage enterpriseinto a business employing eight peo-ple and supplying big retailers.

Ms Begum also runs a training cen-tre to share her skills and mentorother vulnerable young women. “Iencourage these women to learn workso that they can help themselves ifthey ever face a situation where theyhave no one by their side,” she says.

Entrepreneurs aim to benefit communitiesLeadershipIt can be difficult gainingthe skills to take charge,says Alison Maitland

The London riots of 2011highlighted the potentialfor rebellious unemployedinner-city young people tocause unrest.

However, some argue thatinstead of seeing youth as aproblem to fix, the chal-lenge is to find ways of har-nessing their energies sothat they can play a role inimproving urban life forthemselves and others.

“So many older peopleregard young people as theproblem rather than seeingthem as part of the solu-tion,” says Sir Tony Hawk-head, chief executive ofGroundwork, the UK regen-eration charity. “The ques-tion is, how do you giveyoung people the tools to bepart of the solution?”

With more than half the

planet’s population nowliving in cities and roughlyhalf that population underthe age of 25, young peoplemake up a large proportionof the world’s urban resi-dents.

For many of these citi-zens, life is deteriorating asrapid urbanisation, environ-mental degradation andcrime make cities un-healthy, dangerous places.

The expansion of theworld’s mega-slums meansmillions of young people indeveloping countries aregrowing up exposed topolluted air, toxic wasteand lacking access to cleanwater or sanitation.

Meanwhile, in industrial-ised countries, young peo-ple in cities often feel disen-franchised and ignored,

particularly as cash-strapped governments arecutting back on many oftheir youth support pro-grammes.

Yet, when consulted onhow they would like to see

their cities develop, youngpeople are eager to becomeinvolved in everything,from urban design to parkclean-up projects.

A first step is to helpthem understand how their

neighbourhoods haveevolved, says Anne WhistonSpirn, professor of land-scape architecture and plan-ning at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.

Prof Whiston Spirntaught a programme inwhich MIT students workedwith an urban middleschool on the redesign ofthe surrounding area.

As part of the programmein Mill Creek, one of Phila-delphia’s poorest districts,the children studied origi-nal documents and photo-graphs of the area, somedating back to the 17thcentury.

The results were star-tling. At the beginning ofthe course, only one of the36 schoolchildren said theywanted to go to college and,when questioned by theMIT students about thepotential for their neigh-bourhood to change, theywere extremely pessimistic.

“By the end of the semes-ter, all but one of the chil-dren said they wanted to goto college and they’d com-pletely transformed theirbelief that change couldhappen,” explains ProfWhiston Spirn.

The reason, she says, isthat before getting to knowthe history of their commu-nity, the children assumedit had always been thatway.

“They were living in aneternal present, so they hadno belief in change,” shesays.

During the course, theylearnt about the politicaland economic forces – aswell as individual andgroup actions – that hadshaped the neighbourhoodover the years.

“From there they couldimagine change of thefuture,” says Prof WhistonSpirn.

Once they believe it ispossible to play a role inbringing about change,

young people can becomeextremely active in cities,says Peter Shiras, executivevice-president of businessdevelopment at the Interna-tional Youth Foundation.

He cites the youth-ledinitiatives taking place inCiudad Juárez, the Mexicanborder city.

“This is a city that’sdevastated by drug-relatedviolence,” says Mr Shiras.“And yet young people areorganising sports eventsand arts programmes andturning graffiti intomurals.”

When visiting CiudadJuárez recently, Mr Shiraslearnt that the young peo-ple involved in these initia-tives felt a responsibility totake action. “They told me:

‘We can’t just let the druglords take over the city’.”

However, governments,non-profit groups and otherorganisations can do muchto foster action on the partof urban young people.

Sir Tony points toGroundwork’s Young Peo-ple Friendly Neighbour-hoods project, which aimsto give people aged 11-19 anopportunity to design andrun youth services in theircommunities, and developgreen space projects.

He says such projects domore than engage young-sters in positively shapingtheir neighbourhoods. “Youcan give young people a lotof control over planningand you can make somereal impact, not just by

Disenfranchised youth has positiverole to play in improving citiesUrban livingThe challenge is toharness the energyof youth, writesSarah Murray

‘You can give youngpeople control overplanning and youcan make somereal impact’

Street corner society: a wall mural protest in Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez Alamy

Kumari Middleton:‘I didn’t have theskills to keepup . . . you getlinked up withmentors who haveexperience doingthese things’

bringing contractors into do the work, but bygetting volunteers to doboth the immediate workand the long-term mainte-nance.”

Such projects helpdevelop skills – both techni-cal and managerial – andbuild self-esteem, since theycan see the results quickly.

Critically, urban renewalinitiatives also help alterperceptions of young peopleby others in the commu-nity.

“You get older peoplewalking past and seeingyoung people volunteering,clearing the paths andweeding,” says Sir Tony.“And all of a sudden theirattitudes towards youngpeople begin to shift.”

FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2012 ★ 3

Investing in Young People

Policy change Youth has the potential to help economies improve their GDP

As the United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID)nears the launch of a reshaped youthdevelopment policy, its sights are seton a rich prize: the potential forcountries with a youth bulge – thosewhere a large share of the populationis comprised of children and youngadults – to increase their domesticeconomies’ gross domestic product.

USAID’s Youth In Developmentpolicy, which is due to be launchedformally in the next few weeks, is oneof the few comprehensive efforts to befocused on young people and globaldevelopment to have been launched bya large bilateral donor institution.

It is an area long­neglected by thesector, says Rajiv Shah, USAIDadministrator. “Most big developmentorganisations have not traditionallyfocused effectively on youth,” he says.“Our whole community is now catchingup.”

Given the rapidly increasing potentialof mobile technology and socialnetworking to mobilise young people,Mr Shah argues that it is now criticalto engage them in promoting economicgrowth and social stability.

“With millions more young peopleconnected to Facebook, the internetand systems where they feelempowered, you can either getinstability and the challenges thatcome with it – or you can deploy thatenergy more effectively in the economyand reap a significant demographicdividend,” he says.

That dividend could be an importantone for developing countries. Inresearch conducted with the WorldBank and the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation, USAID found that in eastand south­east Asia and Latin America,where young people have beensuccessfully integrated into theeconomy, many of the nations in thoseregions gained almost 2 per cent a

year in GDP growth. “If you connectthose people to your economy andturn them into sources of growth,that’s an incredible driver of change,”says Mr Shah.

“And that’s exactly what we want tosee in sub­Saharan Africa, north Africaand the Middle East to makeeconomies more vibrant, offer peoplemore opportunities and eliminate thescourges that come with high levels ofpoverty and lack of education.”

The Youth In Development policy hasbeen designed not only to includeyoung people in every aspect of theagency’s work but also to create morefocused youth programming than inthe past, in areas ranging from health

and employability to human rights andcivic engagement.

Specific areas of focus includeproviding young people with economicopportunities, increasing their potentialto have a voice in civil society andinvesting in science and technology sothat they can become innovators andentrepreneurs.

USAID has also set itself concretegoals, such as providing 100m youngpeople with the literacy skills that willenable them to join the workforce.“Our youth policy is going be abouthow to do a better job of capturing theopportunities,” says Mr Shah.

While the agency has long runyouth­focused programmes, Mr Shahexplains that the Youth In Developmentpolicy will differ from previous efforts

in the setting of targets and inharnessing technology to roll outinitiatives a on a vast scale.

“Doing small projects or pilotprogrammes here or there would noteffectively capture the demographicopportunity that exists,” he says.

Meanwhile, USAID’s policy will placean emphasis on forming partnershipswith other organisations and with theprivate sector, particularly technologycompanies.

The agency sees technology as acritical development tool, whether inusing mobile phones to give youngpeople access to the banking systemor in designing schemes that allowthem to use their mobile phones tocreate a résumé and search jobsdatabases.

Technology is also a powerful way ofconnecting young people who want totake action, as seen during the recentpolitical turmoil in north Africa and theMiddle East. “We want to engage withFacebook, Google and Twitter, whichcan help reach not just thousands butmillions of people and engage them inproblem­solving,” says Mr Shah.

In fact, the potential for youngpeople to be problem­solvers ratherthan passive recipients of aid is acritical element of USAID’s objectives.“Across the board, we see that as amajor part of the engagementstrategy,” says Mr Shah.

This is also the reason USAID iscalling the policy “Youth InDevelopment” (rather than, say, Youthand Development). Mr Shah says: “Itrecognises explicitly that young peopleare important actors, partners andleaders in shaping their communitiesand economies.

“We want to be at the cutting edgeof getting development institutions tobe more focused on youth.”

Sarah Murray

Rajiv Shah:‘Young peopleare importantactors, partnersand leaders inshaping theircommunities andeconomies’

Widespread unemploymentand poverty among theyoung were cited by manyas causes of the Arab upris-ings of 2011.

Sub-Saharan Africa, theworld’s most youthfulregion, has similar prob-lems, yet did not experiencea pan-regional youth-ledrebellion.

But, it has been argued,the continent’s leadersmust prioritise improvingyoung people’s prospects toavoid unrest.

Some see January’s large-

scale protests in Nigeria asa sign of things to come forthe continent. While theimmediate trigger for theunrest was the govern-ment’s planned removal ofan expensive fuel subsidy,the high youth unemploy-ment was a deeper contrib-uting factor in a countrywhere 60 per cent of thepopulation is aged under 30.

The growing disillusion-ment among Africa’s youthis a “recipe for disaster”,says Kyateka Mondo, acommissioner for youth andchildren in Uganda’s minis-try of gender, labour andsocial development.

“When I was a youngman, Uganda had only oneuniversity,” he says. “Nowwe have 30, and all of theseare churning out youngpeople who join the marketplace every year. But the

economy is not growing intandem with the rate atwhich young people areemerging from universi-ties.”

Uganda was wracked byviolent protests last yearagainst a government thatis “trying its level best, butis overwhelmed by thenumbers of young people”in one of the world’s fastest-growing populations, MrMondo says.

The state sees boostingyouth employment as a pri-ority, and is investing heav-ily in projects such as entre-preneurship courses, a dig-ital labour market informa-tion system, and “sheltered,serviced workplaces” foryoung artisans.

The need to create oppor-tunities for young people isa common topic at summitsof African governments. In

2006, the African Unionadopted the African YouthCharter, a legally bindingdocument that commitsgovernments to implementprogrammes to help theyoung, and provide “equalaccess to all levels of high-quality education”.

But young people acrossthe continent are cynical.“They put down solutions,come up with policies,”says Diana Mwangi, 25, aKenyan IT instructor. “Butnone of the money gets tothe youth because of cor-ruption. It ends up in politi-cians’ pockets.”

Ms Mwangi estimatesthat only 10 of her 50primary school classmatesfrom Nairobi’s sprawlingKibera slums are nowemployed. Despite her lackof family wealth or connec-tions, she spent hours in

her school library to win astudent loan, available onlyto the most accomplishedstudents. This allowed herto study for a degree at theUniversity of Nairobi.

Like most of her fellow

students, Ms Mwangi spentmonths after her gradua-tion searching for work.

Thanks partly to newfibre optic broadband links,Kenya is enjoying a boomin telecoms and technology,but these industries areclosed to the majority of

young Kenyans who, likeMs Mwangi, receive littletraining in IT at school oruniversity.

Her route into employ-ment was opened byAfrican Centre for Women,Information and Communi-cations Technology(ACWICT), a non-govern-mental organisation (NGO)that provides IT training towomen from underprivi-leged backgrounds. NGOshave an important role toplay in unlocking the poten-tial of African youth, saysCiré Kane, director of Syn-apse Center, a Senegaleseorganisation that helpsyoung people find work orestablish businesses.

While Mr Kane speakswith pride of the 5,600young people his organisa-tion has helped in the pastnine years, he says the

government must do moreto cut the bureaucracy thatmakes it difficult for manygifted young entrepreneursto turn bright ideas intobusinesses.

The private sector mustalso remedy the lack offunding that hampers crea-tion of small businesses.

Even in South Africa, theregion’s most advancedeconomy, more than half ofyoung people are out ofwork, a problem that is akey factor behind the coun-try’s high crime rate.

The support of disaffectedyoung people has boostedthe influence of JuliusMalema, the suspendedleader of the ruling AfricanNational Congress’s youthwing, who has frightenedinvestors by calling fornationalisation of themines.

But the country is hometo a thriving initiative thataims to nurture talent thatwill aid long-term sustaina-ble development.

Each year, the AfricanLeadership Academy,founded in 2008, bringsdozens of young peoplefrom across Africa for 24months of study at itsJohannesburg campus,from where most of themachieve full scholarships tostudy in the US.

Fred Swaniker, 34, theacademy’s Ghanaianfounder, wants it to train“6,000 leaders over a 50-yearperiod”.

He says: “In Africa, whereyou don’t have strong insti-tutions, one good leader canhave a tremendous impacton society, but similarly, onthe downside, one badleader can destroy society.”

Improved employment prospects crucial for stabilityAfrican focusDisillusionment isseen as a ‘recipe fordisaster’, writesSimon Mundy

‘None of themoney gets tothe youth, itends up inpoliticians’ pockets’

Ori Wachtel wasstudying law atTel Aviv univer-sity when he first

realised few students tookup voluntary work becausethey found it hard to findopportunities and fit com-munity service into theirschedule. As a result, hefounded Hevra Tova (whichtranslates as “good society),an online calendar of volun-teer activities.

Hevra Tova, whichreceives support from theUnited Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, isone of many organisationshelping young people whowould like to do more tomake a difference.

“Young people need a toolto understand the relevantvolunteer opportunities intheir area and time frame,”says Mr Wachtel.

Visitors to the HevraTova website can browsethrough the calendar ofactivities in their area –many requiring no morethan a couple of hours com-mitment – to see if anythingthat interests them is tak-ing place in their free time.

“It’s a new solution for anold problem,” says MrWachtel. Members of the so-called millennial generation

(born after 1980, also knownas generation Y), often havea strong desire to help solvebig global challenges.

“Millennials are uniquelypositioned to bring theircharacteristics to bear onsolving some of the greatestproblems society faces,”says Maya Enista Smith,chief executive of Mobi-lize.org, which works toempower young people tohelp solve social problems.

And once they have had ataste of volunteering, theyoften return for more.

“ ‘Leisure volunteering’,which usually begins as adiscrete one-off activity,ends up in many cases as

the gateway to regularvolunteering,” says MrWachtel.

Technology is certainly apowerful tool, helpingmatch young volunteerswith appropriate activities.

In the US, organisationssuch as VolunteerMatchand the Corporation forNational and CommunityService, a federal agency,provide online search func-tions that help people findsuitable placements, as doorganisations such as Do-itin the UK.

Yet identifying a project

or organisation is just thestart. Young people oftenneed training and mentor-ing in how to make themost of their time as volun-teers. In Vietnam, for exam-ple, Solidarités Jeunesses,an international youth non-governmental organisation,arranges training activitiesfor volunteers as well aswork camps and projects.

The experience acquiredon volunteering projectsprovide young people withskills that prove valuablewhen they enter the work-force, both improving theirchances of getting a job andmaking it easier for them tosucceed in the workingenvironment.

Volunteering not onlyhelps young people learn todo everything, from run-ning a soup kitchen tobuilding a wall; it also givesthem exposure to differentsectors and communities,and helps them start tointeract with adults in away that is different fromrelationships with parentsor teachers.

However, young peopleoften face barriers to takingaction.

“There are all kinds ofstudies showing that thevast majority of young peo-ple say they want to make adifference. Yet volunteerrates are only one in four,”says Nancy Lublin, chiefexecutive of DoSome-thing.org, a US non-profitorganisation that helpsyoung people to contributeto causes they care about.

“It’s not that those kids

are lying – it’s that thereisn’t stuff for them to do.”

Among these problems,she says, is the fact thatyoung people do not havemoney to donate to causes.Also, their time is limited,and something as simple aslack of access to transportcan prevent them fromassisting with projects tak-ing place outside their area.

In some cases, an organi-sation’s insurance coveragemeans it cannot accept vol-unteers under a certain age.

Moreover, young peoplefrom poorer backgroundsoften cannot afford to vol-unteer. “Organisationsshould be more aware ofthe financial hardship par-ticipating in programmesputs on people,” says MsEnista Smith.

She also says organisa-tions that offer only unpaidinternships are raising bar-riers that prevent manyyoung people participatingin social or environmentalprojects.

“One thing that wouldensure more young peoplecan participate in civic andpolitical spheres would bepaid internships,” she says.

Ms Lublin believes that

these kinds of barriers arenot being addressed bymany non-profit organisa-tions. “Most organisationshaven’t figured out how touse young people,” shesays. “And they’re thisgreat untapped resource.”

For the non-profit sector,failing to tap into the ener-gies of the younger genera-tion means they are alsomissing out on an opportu-nity to spread the wordabout their causes, sinceyoung people often treat

activities as social events,documenting them on Twit-ter or uploading photo-graphs to blogs and Face-book pages.

“They’re not just volun-teer labour. They’re a greatmarketing mechanism,

because you don’t just gettheir time – you also gettheir friends,” says Ms Lub-lin.

“And because they doeverything with friends,you get even more positiveideas and creativity.”

A helping handcan get peoplevolunteeringNon­profit sectorThere is a range ofobstacles deterringyoungsters, saysSarah Murray

‘Organisationsshould be moreaware of thefinancial hardshipof participating’

NGOs need you: technology is increasingly becoming a powerful tool that is helping to match young volunteers with appropriate activities

4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2012

Investing in Young People

Ni Lu takes things one stepat a time. “It’s most realis-tic to set yourselftargets for the next three orfive years – longer periodsof time you can’t control,”the Shanghai girl says.

Ms Ni’s short-to-mediumterm goals include workingless, travelling a lot; findinga man to marry and havinga baby.

With her ambitiousagenda, the 24-year-oldoffice worker at Shanda, aninternet company, is anemblem of China’s younggeneration. Markedly differ-ent from their parents andgrandparents, under-30s inthe world’s most populousnation have grown up in arelatively stable society andexperienced increasing, ifmodest, prosperity, so theyhave certain expectations.

“These people have whatI call middle class anxiety,”says Li Chunling, aresearcher at the ChineseAcademy of Social Sciencein Beijing. “They all strivefor a decent standard of liv-ing which makes other peo-ple respect them.”

It is a familiar picture.As continuously growing

demand makes China theworld’s largest market for

everything from mobilephones to cars, and as thecountry develops a vora-cious appetite for luxurygoods, the plans and expec-tations of young people alsoseem increasingly to resem-ble those of their westernpeers: and, it seems, theyshare the same status sym-bols and desires.

But the path to realisingthese seemingly simpledreams in China is very dif-ferent from what it mightbe in Europe or America.

China’s society and econ-omy are changing rapidly.The countryside is urbanis-ing at a dizzying speed, thejob market is being trans-formed overnight, and themedia and entertainmentlandscape is undergoingsweeping changes.

While these conditionsoffer many opportunitiesto strike it rich, they alsocreate huge hurdles foryoung people to attain theirdesired state of a middleclass goal.

“As a result, they feel alot of pressure,” explainsMr Li.

To be sure, the lives ofthe young can differ vastly,depending on whether theywere born in a big city or inthe countryside andwhether they come from anaffluent or well-connectedfamily or a simple peasanthousehold.

Mr Li says: “It is broadlyfelt that one’s family back-ground is an increasinglyimportant factor in one’sfuture, that social mobility

is somewhat decreasing inChina.”

But what young peopleacross all social groupsshare is the expectation of agood life and the soberingrealisation that gettingthere can require a ratheruncomfortable struggle,if it does not turn out to beimpossible altogether.

“For young people in thecities, a home is probablythe biggest issue,” saysWang Xiaodong, aresearcher at the ChinaYouth Research Centre.“Property prices are toohigh,” he says.

For young men andwomen who grew up in a

small town or village, mak-ing a fresh start oftenseems easy.

Especially in the poorestrural regions, the youngincreasingly leave schoolearly to go to the moredeveloped coastal regions towork there.

“At the beginning, I wasdazzled that I’d have myown cash every month,”says Zhuo Hong, a 25-year-old from Sichuan, one ofChina’s most populouswestern provinces. He lefthis rural home at 15 towork in a factory in Dong-guan, an export manufac-

turing hub close to HongKong.

But Mr Zhuo now finds ithard to get by. He has beensaving his wages for mar-riage, but he is no longersure he wants to go back tothe village where all theyoung people have left,where the roads are muddyand where there is no work.

Staying in Dongguanwould be difficult too,because he does not earnenough to buy a flat there.“But I’m too old to startagain, so maybe I made thewrong decision 10 yearsago,” he says.

Those younger than himwho leave the countrysidenow often do not wish towork in a factory. “Theycan’t eat bitterness,” saysMr Zhuo, using a commonexpression for enduringhardship.

Many younger migrantworkers try to find jobs inthe service industriesinstead of construction andfactories.

Although young people incities have more options,they often share the samesense of confusion. “I don’tknow in what direction thefuture will take me, Ihaven’t thought about thatthoroughly,” says Ms Ni.

She has taken up religion,something unthinkable inMaoist China a few decadesago. Once a month, she vis-its the Jing’an Temple inShanghai to “have a chatwith the Buddha. I thinkit’s a good thing when peo-ple have some faith.”

Daily struggle increases anxietyChinese viewpointThe dreams may besimple but theway is difficult,says Kathrin Hille

Many young peo-ple enter labourmarkets eachyear armed

with little education toequip them for work. Evenfor those leaving university,a lack of demand meansmany have little hope ofusing their hard-earnedknowledge in a proper job.

The International LabourOrganization has warned of“a scarred generation ofyoung workers facing adangerous mix of highunemployment, increasedinactivity and precariouswork’’. In Egypt, where themajority of the 80m popula-tion lives in poverty, 1myoung people join thelabour force every year.

Most will be underem-ployed in the vast informalsector or in the country’senormous and lumberingbureaucracy.

But the lucky ones with atertiary education andinspired by the possibilityof a new dawn, are aiminghigher. “Egyptian youthsare trying to find jobs thatgive them social mobility,”says Ayman Ismail, profes-sor of entrepreneurship atthe American University inCairo.

Even before the revolu-tion, when investment lev-

els were high, graduateswere taking four or fiveyears to find their first job,he says.

Prof Ismail is on theboard of Nahdet ElMahrousa, a developmentgroup that operates theCareer & EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Office at CairoUniversity.

The organisation, likemany others, has intro-duced a volunteering pro-gramme, experience havingshown that work in thecommunity provides gradu-ates with the skills theyneed in a real job.

“Volunteers have a cer-tain work ethic,” says ProfIsmail. “They’re self-motiva-tors. They are good peopleto have in your company.”

In Chile, meanwhile,where students, have beenprotesting for months overthe poor state of public uni-versities, a system is beingput in place at Santiago’sSchool of Business and Eco-nomics which it is hopedwill be copied elsewhere.

Jorge Marshall Rivera,the dean, says that, with 50per cent of young peoplehaving secured degrees,they have had to find a wayof differentiating them-selves and have driven asystem whereby, in theirfinal year, instead of pro-ducing a thesis, they comeup with a business idea,which they must implementand demonstrate.

“This is has been drivenby student demand, not bythe universities,” he says.“Students have been wayout ahead of us.”

In the US, outside the IvyLeague institutions with

their strong social net-works, graduation rates arelamentable, says LorleneHoyt, director of pro-grammes and research atthe Talloires Network, aninternational associationcommitted to strengtheningthe responsibilities ofhigher education, at TuftsUniversity, Boston.

“Half our colleges arecommunity colleges andonly one in three studentsstays to the end of thecourse,” she says.

She adds that the OccupyWall Street protest is start-ing to focus governmentattention on social dispari-

ties, but believes the UK isquicker and more flexible inadjusting to a new worldorder.

Driven by increased tui-tion fees, many Britishinstitutions – not so longago more interested inattracting the requisitenumber of students than inwhat happens to themwhen they leave – have feltcompelled to emphasiseemployment opportunities.

London Metropolitan Uni-versity is no stranger to theneed to ensure its graduatesgain employment, given itsbeginnings in 1848 as aworkingmen’s college.

Having streamlined itsoffering last year, it is intro-

ducing a course in socialmedia, capitalising on itsposition at the heart of Lon-don’s so-called “tech corri-dor”, from film companiesin Soho to the explosion ofdigital, design and othernew media businessesaround Hoxton, and concen-trating on Britain’s reputa-tion for creative brands.

“Media and communica-tions have seen hugegrowth – more than 150 percent in the past 20 years,”says Chris Lane at the uni-versity’s department ofapplied social sciences.“We’re world leaders inbrands and all the innova-tion is here,” he says.

Ben Harris, director atNew Brand Vision, a web-site agency and softwaredeveloper, says his highlyqualified team has beenlargely recruited from Lon-don Met.

His approaches to compet-ing universities have fallenon deaf ears. “No one wasinterested,” he says. “Butwe found the right personat London Met and theystarted to feed us their bestcandidates.”

Eighty-three per cent ofthe university’s graduatesfind employment within sixmonths of leaving and theirstarting salaries are £5,000above the average.

At the other end of thescale, London’s elite Impe-rial College has a long his-tory of supplying industrywith science graduates.

Nigel Bell, professor ofenvironmental pollutionand director of careers andalumni, says the college’scareers and alumni systemhas huge benefits. “I know

all the students I havetaught here since the1970s,” he says. That isinvaluable when it comes tosecuring employment forsubsequent generations.“It’s not the sort of alumnisystem where the univer-sity only gets in touch withyou when it needs money.”

Some young people mayhave had as many as 18 jobsby the time they are 32. Sowhat of the old-fashionedpolymaths? And what of theargument in favour of edu-cation for education’s sake?

“There’s no such thing,”says David Eade, the newlyappointed head of studentemployment and enterpriseat Nottingham Trent Uni-versity. “Everything has avalue. It doesn’t all need tobe about money.”

Workplace skills have becomethe main focus for studentsUniversities’ roleEven those withdegrees find theyneed to do more toget a job, reportsStephanie Gray

Chilean winter: Colombian students protest in support of their peers in Chile, who took part in widespread protests for better eduction and jobs in 2011 Getty

WangXiaodong:housing isthe biggestissue forthe young

EU cash College aims to boost start­ups and job hopes

It is not just learning andteaching that is going on atHull College Group, there ismoneymaking too.

The Yorkshire­basedfurther education college,which is located in one ofthe UK’s most deprivedcities, is part of Net315, aproject that aims to create315 businesses and 515 jobsby September 2013 byhelping its students foundstart­ups.

Funded with £5.6m fromthe European Union, cashthat has been matchedlocally, Hull’s target is toprovide 8 per cent of thetotal. It is working with 60students and has so farcreated 26 businesses and43 jobs in the area.

Elaine McMahon, collegechief executive and principalof HCG, which has 30,000students, many of themmature, says it is successfulbecause staff and studentsvalue enterprise.

“We look for enterprise asa core theme when werecruit staff,” she says.“Some are still running theirown businesses. Net315works with students who areself­starters.”

She says the take­up inHull was greater than inHarrogate, a richer town tothe north­west. “Hull hasmore need. People arehungrier,” she says. Thecollege also has a campusin nearby Goole.

Tad Richert,24, andVincentWilkinson,32, hadconsideredstarting ashop to fixcomputersand sell

accessories and parts asthey entered the final yearof computing degrees. But aconversation with AlastairBrooks, who runs enterpriseprogrammes at the college,led them to be moreambitious.

“He thought it might bebetter to supply theseservices on a national andthen global scale. We hadn’tthought of that,” says MrRichert. The pair hadspotted a gap in the marketto recover data forindividuals from theircomputers, smartphones

and other digital deviceswhen they broke down.

“We had help withmarketing, the legal workand money. We wereoffered an office here at thecollege, but we wantedsomewhere bigger,” says MrRichert. Datawise Recoverywas set up in August and isbreaking even.

Mr Wilkinson says:“Without Net 315, it wouldhave taken us a lot longer.We would not have hadanyone to talk to.”

It also helps to networkwith the other youngentrepreneurs among thestudents, he adds. Otherbusinesses that have beenset up include a digital

marketing agency and a

dance studio.The scheme offers help

from established companies– such as Baker Tilley, theaccountancy firm, andBritish Land, the propertydeveloper that runs theSt Stephen’s shoppingcentre in the city – whooffer tips on marketing,market testing, accountingand the law.

Tom Morrison, partner atRollits, a law firm that helpsstudents set up businesses,says it is important to giveeven younger studentshands­on experience of theworld of work.

“It is about getting themwork­ready, so they canoperate as a team, turn upon time, and so on.”

There are signs that arange of measures isbeginning to improveopportunities for youngpeople in Hull, which was hitby the sudden decline of thefishing industry in the1970s.

The government isinvesting £465m to rebuildevery school in the city andthe proportion of 16­18s notin employment, education ortraining has fallen from anestimated 14.1 per cent in2006 to an estimated 10per cent in 2010.

The college’s ambitions donot end here. It will soonopen a studio school for14­19­year­olds that willfocus on employability skillsand it is also partnering withprimary schools toencouraging enterprise.

Ms McMahon says thecollege is now working withlocal businesspeople tocreate an apprenticeentrepreneur qualification.

‘Helping students find –or create – a job is asimportant as the educationitself’, she says.

Andrew Bounds

High­tech start:Datawise founders

Vincent Wilkinson, left,and TadRichert

‘Helping studentsfind – or create –a job is asimportant as theeducation itself’

‘Volunteers have acertain work ethic,they are goodpeople to have inyour company’