YouthCan!

267 million young people worldwide are neither in employment, education or training, according to a recent report by the International Labour Organization. Young people in care are disproportionately affected by this global youth employment challenge. As a response to this challenge, YouthCan! - the global partnership for youth employability - was launched in 2017 by SOS Children’s Villages and partners from the private sector to promote decent work for young people without adequate parental care.  

This entails corporate volunteers sharing their time, skills, expertise and own career journeys. They plan workshops, trainings, facilitate exposure to professional environments and act as mentors. Employees and young people can connect face to face or through our digital platform, enabling worldwide collaborative learning and breaking down geographical barriers.

YouthCan! combines mentoring, first work experience, and soft and technical skills trainings into one comprehensive approach. The programme is locally-owned and tailored to the local labour market and the needs of each young person. 

Reaching 5,700 young people with the help of six global partners, more than 200 national partners and 1,700 volunteers across the globe, YouthCan! celebrated a successful third year in 2019. Starting in 2017 in seven pilot countries, the youth employability programme now works with young people in 31 countries. The three pillars of the programme – mentor, train, practice – are tailored to the local labour market and the individual needs of each young participant.