Landscape Review: Mobiles for Youth Workforce Development

This landscape report explores the intersection of mobile technology and youth employment. It provides an overview of programs that support mobiles for youth workforce development (mYWD), existing gaps, and the current evidence base for what works on the field. The report identified 80 initiatives, organizations, projects, products, and services, and approximately 275 publicly available documents describing efforts that use mobiles to support mYWD. It also involved key informant interviews with 30 experts and practitioners in various fields from ICT to workforce development. The report makes several recommendations for the further development of mYWD including:

• Development of a common framework for mYWD programming which could be the foundation for the creation of measurement indicators to track progress in overcoming key barriers to youth employment;
• Development of an evidence base for mYWD by further documenting successful strategies and improved data collection;
• A gender lens in programming with an increased focus on girls and young women given their low participation in mYWD;
• Increased focus on the inclusion of youth with disabilities which are the populations facing the most discrimination in education, training, hiring practices and social acceptance;
• Further research on the conditions, partnerships, and models required for scaling up mYWD programs.