Generation Unlimited Sahel
A bold, new vision for the Sahel, for and with young people.
The sprawling youth population in the Sahel—65% under the age of 25—makes the region an extraordinarily vibrant and youthful expanse with unlimited potential for progress and sustainable development.
But as it stands, too many of the region’s young people risk being left behind, and too few of them are ready to take up the baton to contribute to positive change.
They are facing a growing mismatch between the skills they are formally learning and those increasingly in demand by employers. And they are reeling from a pandemic that has disrupted their education and exacerbated already challenging realities.
Without urgent investment in education and skills training, the rapidly growing youth population in the Sahel risks being unprepared and unskilled for the future workforce.
They have what it takes to build a better Sahel, but we must give them the ladders of opportunity they require to lead decent lives and create lasting change.
GenU Sahel: A Leap Forward
Against this backdrop of a rising need to support youth to adapt to the rapidly changing world of work and contribute to the transformation of their societies, GenU and the United Nations have partnered to launch GenU Sahel.
GenU Sahel is an enormous undertaking aiming to funnel mass catalytic investments to usher in a new era for Sahel’s youth. It is designed to be a channel for generating business opportunities, mobilizing resources, and creating fair and favorable conditions for young women and men of the Sahel, with a focus on the most disadvantaged
Aiming to connect more than 100 million young people in the Sahel with opportunities and skills needed to thrive in the digital and green economy, GenU Sahel will fuel disruptive, innovative action at scale to deliver a real leap forward for youth in a fairer, more equal, and prosperous Sahel.
Together with the office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Sahel and UN regional offices, GenU Sahel will align government and private sector commitments to create solution-oriented products to link youth to opportunities for upskilling, employment, entrepreneurship, social impact.
Most importantly, under the Public-Private-Youth partnership, young people themselves will play a key role, using their voice, action, and power to co-create the agenda and steer the partnership forward.
Meaningful youth engagement means going beyond just giving youth a voice—we must enable them to steer the agenda and trust them with the decision-making authority they need to be at the forefront of the decisions that will define their futures
Now is the time to invest in youth and build a better future. We are realizing an ambition that will bring benefits not only for young people but for entire societies and economies
