April 4 summit a venue to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience to influence policy initiatives on youth entrepreneurship and social innovation.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Citi Foundation, with cooperation and support from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Vietnam Volunteer Center, opened the second Asia Pacific Youth Co:Lab Summit in Hanoi on April 4.
The flagship event brought together over 500 delegates, including hundreds of young people, partners, and government officials from 20 countries, to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience to influence policy initiatives on youth entrepreneurship and social innovation.
According to the Asia Pacific Human Development Report 2016, more than half of all young people in the world today live in Asia-Pacific and 1.7 billion are under 25. Close to 71 million young people, aged 15 to 24, are unemployed worldwide, of which 33 million are in Asia-Pacific alone. Nearly 220 million young people are neither at school nor at work, presenting a daunting crisis that calls for an urgent response.
Co-created in 2017 by the UNDP and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to empower and invest in youth so that they can accelerate the implementation of the SDGs through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Over the last two years, Youth Co:Lab projects have been implemented in 20 countries and territories across the region, with national dialogues, regional summits, and social innovation challenges reaching over 48,000 participants. The initiative has benefitted more than 2,500 young social entrepreneurs and helped launch or improve nearly 500 social enterprises.
Youth Co:Lab has also established partnerships with more than 100 key ecosystem players to strengthen the Youth Empowerment Alliance to support young entrepreneurs, particularly young women and marginalized youth, by connecting them with businesses, incubators, accelerators, and financing mechanisms to develop their ideas into viable business models for sustainable social impact.
The two-day summit brings together several keynote speakers, prominent social entrepreneurs, youth change makers, principal government officials, and leading ecosystem players. The summit will conclude with the Youth Co:Lab Regional Social Innovation Challenge, where 34 teams, pre-selected during national social innovation challenges held across 16 countries and territories, will pitch and showcase their social enterprises and ideas to a panel of esteemed judges.