UNICEF India and SAP India partner to improve employability of young people

NEW DELHI, 15 July 2020 - On World Youth Skills Day, UNICEF India today announced its partnership with SAP India to provide career counselling to young people in the country that will improve their employability skills in a COVID-19 and post COVID-19 era. UNICEF is collaborating with YuWaah (Generation Unlimited) under this initiative to provide digital education and occupational skillset to the underserved young people of the Country.

Under the collaboration UNICEF – YuWaah – SAP will strengthen the following:

• Improve digital skills and life skills for young people
• Provide young people with career options.
• Reimagine the model in other states with the Government of India
• Impacting one million young people by the end of 2022

Young people living in rural areas are particularly vulnerable when it comes to career and employability opportunities due to limited access to information, training, opportunities or the skills to participate fully in India’s modernizing technology-driven economy. The national aggregate on learner-computer ratio is reported to be 1:89, suggesting an inequitable access[1] in rural schools. Evidence[2] suggests that technology solutions can be optimized better to address poor learning levels, low retention rates, poor life-skills, and gender inclusion.

"Quality education and digital inclusion have never been more important. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of access to education and this couldn’t be more relevant to India which has the highest number of young people," said Alexandra van der Ploeg, Head of CSR at SAP.

"Together with UNICEF in support of the UN’s Generation Unlimited initiative, we can use the power of innovation to solve social issues and help our youth through education, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship. In true SAP spirit, our unique partnership with UNICEF will not only maximise our collective impact but inspire young people in India and across the globe to help the world run better. After all, if our young people aren’t given the opportunities for skill development, they won’t be able to associate and support social causes that help in development of a nation," she said.

"COVID-19 has led to disruptions in educational, economic and social spheres of life, throwing up many challenges for young people.   The UNICEF – YuWaah – SAP India partnership aims to empower young people, to harness their creativity, problem-solving and leadership assets, to make a difference in their own lives and in their communities. This partnership will address urgent challenges young people face by exposing them to life skills, social innovation and career guidance," said Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative in India.

[1] Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development 2014

[2] Johnson, A. M., Jacovina, M. E., Russell, D. E., & Soto, C. M. (2016). Challenges and solutions when using technologies in the classroom. In S. A. Crossley & D. S. McNamara (Eds.) Adaptive educational technologies for literacy instruction (pp. 13-29). New York: Taylor & Francis. Published with acknowledgment of federal support.