UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited Announces New Phase of Global Partnership with Accenture, Connecting 580,000 Youth to Skilling and Earning Opportunities

As part of its support for GenU, the latest phase of the partnership aims to:

• Connect more than 188,000 young people to entrepreneurial activities through imaGen Ventures, a programme that provides grants, seed funding, and mentorship to cultivate ventures. Nearly 43,000 participants will acquire market-relevant skills and more than 800 would start their entrepreneurship journey.
• Support over 300,000 marginalized young people through Youth Marketplace Agency (YOMA), a digital global platform that supports young people to build skills to innovate on environmental challenges, re-enter formal education, find employment, or start a new business. More than 61,000 will gain new skills, with more than 6,000 taking additional steps toward earning pathways.
• Reach more than 92,000 marginalized young people through Passport to Earning (P2E ), of which more than 10,000 will complete courses and receive certificates for market-relevant skills, and more than 2,000 will be taking additional steps towards earning pathways. P2E leverages a digital platform to provide free, certifiable, and job-relevant skills to young people, positioning them to access advanced skilling and earning opportunities.
• In addition, Accenture’s CEO of Growth Markets, Leo Framil, has been appointed to GenU’s Board, where he will help set GenU’s strategic direction and advance their shared ambition to upskill the next generation. With this appointment, Accenture will become one of GenU’s Founding Partners, a group of leaders that play an integral role in championing global skills development and mentorship.

“I am thrilled that our partnership with Accenture is expanding, so that together we can prepare and empower even more young people with the relevant skills they need to enter and thrive in an evolving workforce. We also welcome them as Generation Unlimited’s Founding Partner, not only providing resources and strategic expertise to resolve the skills crisis but committing to engaging young people as equal partners in these efforts,” said Kevin Frey, CEO at GenU.

“Accenture has been committed to helping underserved populations realize their potential through its ‘Skills to Succeed’ initiative for more than a decade, with NGO partnerships crucial to scaling impact. Building on the success of our partnership with UNICEF’s GenU to date, we are excited to expand the scope of our efforts beyond skilling, to include greater support with the transition into jobs or starting businesses. I am delighted to join the GenU Board and look forward to helping drive systemic change addressing structural barriers to progress on a global level,” said Leo Framil, CEO of Growth Markets at Accenture.

This announcement comes as the world faces an urgent challenge: 1.8 billion young people are standing on the brink of adulthood. Yet, a staggering 60% of young people are projected to lack essential skills by 2030, putting their very prospects for dignified lives at risk. The long-term impacts of this crisis will ripple through our economies, communities, and societies, deepening inequality and locking young people out of the opportunities they need to build a better life.

The latest phase of the partnership was announced at a virtual event celebrating International Youth Day, where senior leaders from Accenture took part in an interactive discussion on the importance of digital skills for young people and their future career aspirations with GenU youth delegates. Introducing the event, Kevin Frey, CEO of GenU, outlined the partnership’s ambition to empower even more young people with the skills they need to achieve their career goals.

Since 2021, Accenture has supported GenU, as a founding partner of its flagship programme, P2E. Accenture’s funding contributed to providing more than 2 million young people (aged 15-24) with free and job-relevant skills training, digital certificates, and certifications needed to secure in-demand roles and opportunities for improved livelihoods. The US$3 million of committed funding from the initial phase of the partnership enables GenU to provide digitally enhanced skills development and the opportunity to access paid work or self-employment for young people in Brazil and India.

In this new phase of the partnership, Accenture is scaling up its support by providing US$7.8 million to drive impactful outcomes for young people in Brazil, Egypt, India, Philippines, South Africa and Türkiye.