- 21 months
Funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (through the Global Challenges Research Fund).
Around half of all young people in the world are unemployed or underemployed, and this situation is likely to get worse. The World Bank estimates that one billion young people will enter the labour market in the next 10 years, with only 400 million of them likely to find jobs in the formal economy. The potential demographic dividend of boosted economic growth from the growing youth population remains high, yet the way to achieve it is unclear because of contextual specificities, young people’s own desires and policy deficits. Nine tenths of today’s 1.8 billion young people live in developing countries, experiencing precarious forms of livelihood associated with low pay and few worker rights, especially among women and those with low educational attainment. This reality of getting by through various ways of working, involving self-initiative and paid work, requires better understanding in order to formulate policy directions beyond the traditional binaries of supply and demand, formal and informal, self-employment, employment and unemployment, and paid and unpaid work.
The projects funded under this programme support research which brings a much-needed youth-led perspective on the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. They involve genuine interdisciplinarity, collaborative work that extends beyond the standard research model, and policy thinking based on close understanding of, and working with, young people at various stages of ‘getting by’.
Tel: 020 7969 5220
(Re-)Defining Culture: Engaging Urban Fijian Youth in Sustainable Employment Opportunities in the Cultural Heritage Sector
A project focusing on understandings of culture and associated employment choices in Fiji.
Amplifying the Voices of Young People for Sustainable Development in Mental Health
This project aims to advance understanding of youth agency in mental health and contribute to the achievement of a sustainable and healthy future for Brazilian youth.
Challenging Categories: Educated Unemployed Youth as Institutional Innovators in Rural Uganda
Closed for applications
A project seeking to challenge understandings of youth, education and unemployment in rural Uganda.
Empowering Ethnic Minority Youth in Vietnam to Re-Vision the Future of Decent Work (“Re-WORK”)
A project examining the work-livelihood narratives and social practices of young people belonging to ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
Invisible Girls: Raising the Voices of Young Domestic Workers in Myanmar
This project aims to identify youth-driven strategies to improve the future of at-risk youth in Myanmar.
Peak Youth, Climate Change and the Role of Young People in Seizing their Future
A project investigating how climate change in Uganda is affecting young lives and youth livelihoods.
Shaping Futures: Youth Livelihood Options in Creating Inclusive Cities
A project examining the contributions that young people can make to the creation of inclusive cities in India and Brazil.
The Medium-Run Effects of an Adolescent Intervention to Promote Gender Equity: a Participatory Evaluation
How do restrictive gender norms impact on young women’s lives in rural India?
Upskilling for Future Generations: How Can a Gender and Generational Approach Re-Conceptualise Technical and Vocational Education and Training as a Vehicle for Social Transformation for Slum-Dwelling Young Women in Sierra Leone and Cameroon?
How do gender norms create barriers to young women’s employment in Cameroon and Sierra Leone?
Youth with Disabilities’ Lived Experiences, Aspirations and Current Engagements in Livelihoods in Bangladesh and Kenya and Their Influence on Policy Makers
A project seeking to promote the inclusion of young men and women with disabilities in local and national policy dialogues around the implementation of SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.