Partners of the UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth launch knowledge facility and data finder on youth employment

Geneva, 11 December 2019 – The International Trade Centre and partners of the UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth have launched a joint Knowledge Facility at www.decentjobsforyouth.org/knowledge which now is open for business — if you’re in the business of boosting the employment prospects of young people.

The Knowledge Facility is a place for policymakers and practitioners to learn about, share, and engage with youth employment themes through searchable and downloadable resources and tools. Partners power the platform by supplying curated content.

‘Our continued collaboration with the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth now features a new digital platform for young entrepreneurs and youth employment stakeholders alike,’ ITC Executive Director Arancha González said. ‘Through knowledge sharing and providing access to relevant resources we support young entrepreneurs in realising their business ideas.’

The International Trade Centre has been part of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth since its inauguration and continues to lead the thematic area on youth entrepreneurship. With the help of collaborative stakeholder action under the umbrella of the Global Initiative, ITC’s Youth & Trade Programme is able to create conversations and to generate results for young entrepreneurs across Africa and beyond.

The Knowledge Facility offers:

• Data finder: Use this interactive data discovery tool to explore key youth employment indicators from all over the world, create charts, and download versions.
• Publications: Discover text-based resources that provide guidance for policy makers, practitioners and researchers, including global and country-level reports and case studies.
• Tools: Browse practical tools, including guides and checklists that help policy makers and practitioners in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of youth employment policies and programmes.
• Policy platforms: Explore a diversity of platforms full of information relevant to youth employment policies, standards, and legislation.
• Partner platforms: Access a curated list of platforms from trusted partners, which provide insights into best practices for youth employment.
• News and blogs: Read inspiring stories about commitments, actions and solutions from partners working to achieve decent jobs for youth.
• Multimedia: Learn from interactive resources about youth employment, including videos, webinars and online courses.
• Events: Attend an event near you that aims to advance the goal of decent jobs for youth.

Key features

The Knowledge Facility includes innovative features that make it as user-friendly as it is useful.

• A lean meta-website that leverages existing platforms: The Knowledge Facility is available through the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth online engagement platform (www.decentjobsforyouth.org). It builds on the work of existing knowledge platforms on youth employment, and maps and links resources and tools related to youth employment and allows users to manage knowledge of, and communicate about, youth employment interventions.
• A curated approach: The “What is it?” and “Highlights” sections offer a summary of the resource in a few sentences and bullet points. The “Fast facts” column provides even quicker comprehension of the most important characteristics and related information. This curation ensures that all resources are immediately useful and highly practical.
• A powerful search engine: The strong search functionality, cross-references and a shared taxonomy between resources and tools facilitate maximum visibility and interactivity throughout all platform content. Users can easily search, download, and contribute resources and tools, as well as read about news and events and discuss key topics, using the search feature.
• Thematic areas: Resources are organized around thematic priorities, which tackle the youth employment challenge. These thematic areas are used across the Decent Jobs for Youth Knowledge Facility and focus on interventions that are locally owned, aligned with national development priorities, and based on rigorous evidence of what works in different contexts.

The Knowledge Facility has been deigned to become more powerful when stakeholders and partners use, share and add new resources and tools to the platform.

Users can browse the platform using the search feature, explore thematic priorities, consider becoming a partner of the alliance and contribute to the Knowledge Facility.

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About: The UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth is the multi-stakeholder alliance to scale up action and impact on youth employment under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It brings together governments, social partners, youth and civil society organizations, the private sector, the UN System and others working together to share knowledge, leverage resources and take action at country and regional levels to support young people in accessing decent work and productive employment worldwide.