YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYABILITY:
Applying the MSD approach to labour market development
DESCRIPTION 
Unemployment is a major concern worldwide. The youth unemployment rate specifically stands at 13%, which is three times higher than the figure for adults, which is 4.3% (ILO, 2018). Not only are unemployment rates higher, but youth are also more affected by uncertainty, poor working conditions and the changing world of work. Young women and minority groups face additional barriers in accessing job and career opportunities. 
In many instances, solutions proposed to tackle youth unemployment do not work or have a limited impact. This is largely because the solutions either address one aspect of complex labor market systems, or many development initiatives do things by themselves and therefore become part of the labor markets system. Youth employment is therefore a key objective of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); many donors are shifting their focus towards youth employment and implementers need to find good ways of addressing it.
The workshop will provide illustration and room for discussion on how systems thinking can be applied to interventions in labor market systems. It focuses on three distinct features: a) understanding the complexity and dynamism of labor market systems and finding entry points for intervention; b) Use and share specific cases from our own work and discuss the nature of systemic action; c) reflecting on the need for making the right sectoral (non-ag) choices and integrating future trends into conceptualization. 
We designed the workshop to consist of a healthy mix of conceptual presentation and discussion linked to our hands-on experience in implementing youth employment programs; group work sessions will also allow participants a deepening of systems thinking to labor market development. The workshop will also take up topics of the overall Market Systems Symposium: adaptive management, market systems resilience, sectoral shifts and application of systems thinking to fragile contexts. Most of our examples used during the workshop will be from the Balkan region – however, we intend to engage in a discussion how lessons learnt are relevant for the wider development community and other regions.  
TRAINERS (Subject to change)
Matthias Herr is Regional Director of the Eastern Europe program of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation. In this function, he manages and advises a portfolio of projects in the field of economic development and governance. He has more than 13 years of international experience working in development, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and The Springfield Centre. Matt has played a leading role in developing and delivering training courses related to an Inclusive Systems (or MSD) Approach and advised projects of various clients worldwide in the field of (youth) employment and poverty reduction.
Zenebe Uraguchi is a development economist with 18 years of multi-country experience working for a multinational private company, an international development bank and a research institute. He is Programme Coordinator for Eastern Europe and Senior Advisor for inclusive systems development. His areas of expertise are in the design, management and evaluation of private, public and non-profit development initiatives focusing on employment and income. He is keen in training, knowledge management and learning. He manages the ‘inclusive systems’ blog of Helvetas.
Tim Sparkman is the Project Director of the SDC’s Enhancing Youth Employment (EYE) project in Kosovo. He is an economic and workforce development practitioner and systems thinker with more than 10 years of experience designing, managing and assessing projects in more than 20 countries. He combines management experience with an avid research interest, including work on organisational adaptation, socio-economic network structures and information flow.
​Additional facilitators will be present, who are members of the HELVETAS Eastern Europe team, working on youth employment projects in the region. ​
LOGISTICS
Monday, 8 April 2019
9am - 5pm
Lagoon Beach Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
PARTICIPANT PROFILE
Ideally aimed at medium to advanced practitioners with experience in implementing market systems development, value chain development, and/or M4P programs.
HOST ORGANIZATION
Helvetas supports poor and disadvantaged women, men and communities in approximately thirty developing and transition countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Together with our partners, Helvetas tackles the global challenges at various levels: with projects on the ground, with expert advice and by advocating for conducive framework conditions benefiting the poor. Helvetas is active in five working areas: water and infrastructure, skills development and education, sustainable and inclusive economies, governance and peace and environment and climate change. It applies an Inclusive Systems Development Approach across its thematic and regional portfolio. 
SUGGESTED PRE-READING
To be provided later.