Background

Unemployment, underemployment, and vulnerable employment have created a massive strain on labour markets around the globe. To combat this problem, governments are seeking evidence on how to improve the employment situation of youth. While the evidence base is weak, results from experimental research on youth interventions are beginning to emerge.

Images from the Symposium on Flickr

The three-day symposium brings together policy makers and practitioners with academics and researchers to present and discuss the evidence base for “what works” in increasing the employment and productivity of youth. Discussants will share recent findings of impact evaluations from the Middle East and North Africa region and other developing regions. Participants will also be introduced to evidence from systematic and literature reviews which are important for evidence based policy creation. The symposium will also offer teachings on impact evaluation methods and “rules of operation” to promote this vital instrument in policy development.

The Evidence Symposium on “What Works” to improve youth labour productivity is organized by the International Labour Organization in partnership with Silatech, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab and the Arab Urban Development Institute and will be held from 6 to 8 March 2014 at Georgetown University in Doha.

Objectives

1. Communicate findings and recommendations from recently completed impact evaluations on youth employment, entrepreneurship and productivity.
2. Provide an overview of impact evaluation and its importance for policymaking and programme design, as well as basic training on impact evaluation methods and techniques including randomized control trials.
3. Catalyse new partnerships amongst donors, implementers, and researchers with the goal of advancing our knowledge of what works, and what does not, in promoting employment and entrepreneurship for disadvantaged young people.

Participants

• Policy Makers: Senior Government officials from Labour and Youth Ministries, international institutions and other development institutions. Officials should be involved with employment legislation and policy making with current involvement in impact evaluation.
• Implementers: Organizations providing job market services (e.g., counseling, placement assistance, training) and entrepreneurship support (e.g., access to credit, mentoring, training) to young people. Implementers should have an interest in collaborating on an impact evaluation and be of sufficient scale for a rigorous impact evaluation, which typically would require several hundred beneficiaries.
• Researchers: University academic, evaluation investigators, affiliates of J-PAL and other invited researchers who study youth employment and entrepreneurship and sharing impact evaluation results or developing new partnerships with implementers.

The agenda can be found here.

For further information or questions, please contact taqeem@ilo.org.