Leveling the playing field for youth on the move
UNICEF’s Youth on the Move Fellowship Pilot Programme
Highlights
Talent is universal - but opportunity is not, especially for refugee, displaced and migrant youth for whom learning and work opportunities are often out of reach. Lack of formal proof or recognition of qualifications, disruption of education, language barriers, financial constraints, legal and policy barriers, bureaucratic challenges and absence of support networks are some of the barriers that talented youth on the move face because of their migratory status and migration and displacement experience. These barriers also exclude many youth on the move from accessing UNICEF and many other organizations’ internships and entry-level positions. This inadvertently excludes high-potential young people in an already uneven playing field. To prove the concept and show that UNICEF can walk the talk on being an inclusive, supportive, and accessible partner for youth on the move, UNICEF joined forces with the Migration Youth and Children Platform (MYCP) to design and pilot a paid fellowship programme specifically tailored to break UNICEF’s internal glass ceiling: the Youth on the Move Fellowship. Between October 2022 and June 2024 twenty-three youth on the move worked with UNICEF offices across the globe. This brief captures the vision and impact of the programme, shares lessons learned to inspire and inform other stakeholders interested in creating opportunities for youth on the move, and outlines plans to institutionalize the pilot programme.
