Pathways for Ukrainian youth

In Ukraine, the escalation of the war has disrupted both education and job opportunities for adolescents across the country. For the thousands of young people who have been displaced from Ukraine to other countries, challenges include navigating a new culture, different school curricula and job requirements, administrative challenges and language barriers.

PATHWAYS is a regional initiative that addresses these challenges, providing Ukraine's young people (aged 10 to 24) with the skills building, continued education and training that they need to be productive, integrated, and skilled members of society – whether in Ukraine or a host country.

In particular, PATHWAYS offers Ukrainian adolescents and youth the support to:

• Access and complete formal secondary education and/or TVET (Pathway 1): Support is provided to students to enrol and remain in secondary education or TVET, gaining critical knowledge and skills for their well-being and future employment.
• Access first job opportunities (Pathway 2): By partnering with private and public sector initiative, PATHWAYS provides (paid) internships or apprenticeships for secondary school/TVET students in industries that are aligned with adolescents’ professional aspirations, preparing them for their future transition to the labour market.
• Access flexible learning and upskilling opportunities (Pathway 3): For youth currently in employment, PATHWAYS creates opportunities for additional skilling and/or continuation of their regular schooling while working.

All three pathways are supported in a variety of ways, tailored to young people's specific needs – including, for example, career guidance and counselling, job readiness courses, school entrepreneurship programmes, certified skills-building courses, catch-up classes and language programmes.

PATHWAYS is implemented in Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine, strengthening education, skills development, and employment systems. It also focuses on knowledge management and sharing learning across the region to enhance programme coherence and impact. Through PATHWAYS, UNICEF directly reached 305,054 adolescents and youth aged 10–24 (59% girls), with an additional 512,177 benefiting indirectly through systems strengthening and outreach.

None of this work is possible alone. While it is a UNICEF-led project, PATHWAYS is the result of ongoing engagement with numerous stakeholders, including educators, social service providers, the private sector, and young people themselves. It also relies on data-driven programmes that optimize the cost-effectiveness of interventions, such as algorithms that create skills profiles for young people to suggest locally available opportunities and services that might be relevant for them and automated follow-up surveys with young people to capture the effectiveness of programme interventions.

PATHWAYS is part of the Skills Alliance for Ukraine, a joint initiative of donors, international organisations, and the business community to create the conditions for Ukrainians to rebuild their country by increasing support for uninterrupted access to education, skills, and training. By focusing on ages 10-24, PATHWAYS comprehensively brings together formal and non-formal education, learning and skilling, career development, and first job and transition to labour market opportunities for adolescents and young people.