To Accelerate The Largest Youth Social Entrepreneurship Movement In The Region

Youth Co:Lab, the project co-led by UNDP and Citi Foundation, is the largest youth-led social entrepreneurship movement driving the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 4 April 2019 - The United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and Citi Foundation, with the collaboration and support from theMinistry of Science and Technology and the Viet Nam Volunteer Center, openedthe second Asia Pacific Youth Co:Lab Summit, in Hanoi today. The flagship eventbrings together over 500 delegates, including hundreds of youth, partners and governmentofficials from 20 countries, to exchange ideas, knowledge andexperiences, to influence policy initiatives on youth entrepreneurship andsocial innovation.

According to the Asia Pacific HumanDevelopment Report 2016, more than half the young people in the world todaylive in Asia Pacific and 1.7 billion are under 25. The report further statesthat close to 71 million young people, aged 15 to 24, are unemployed worldwide,of which 33 million are in Asia Pacific alone. Nearly 220 million young peopleare neither at school, nor at work, presenting a daunting crisis that calls foran urgent response.

Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation,Youth Co:Lab aims to empower and invest in youth, so that they can acceleratethe implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) throughleadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Over the last two years, Youth Co:Lab projects havebeen implemented in 20 countries and territories across the region, withnational dialogues, regional summits and social innovation challenges reachingover 48,000 participants. The initiative has benefitted over 2,500 young socialentrepreneurs and helped launch or improve nearly 500 social enterprises.

Youth Co:Lab has also established partnerships withmore than 100 key ecosystem players to strengthen the Youth EmpowermentAlliance to support young entrepreneurs, particularly young women andmarginalized youth, by connecting them with businesses, incubators,accelerators, and financing mechanisms to develop their ideas into viablebusiness models for sustainable social impact.

Speaking this morning at the opening of the summitin National Economics University, Hanoi were : Valerie Cliff, UNDP DeputyRegional Director for Asia & the Pacific; Brandee McHale, President of theCiti Foundation and Head of Corporate Citizenship at Citi; Caitlin Wiesen, ResidentRepresentative, UNDP Viet Nam; Tran Van Tung, Vice Minister, Ministry ofScience and Technology, Viet Nam; Phạm Hồng Chương, Vice Rector, NationalEconomics University of Viet Nam.

"As I see the first generation of Youth Co:Lab social entrepreneursflourish and carry their own initiatives forward, I am reminded of the reasonwhy this work is so important: young people really do hold the key to socialchange," said Valerie Cliff, UNDP DeputyRegional Director for Asia & the Pacific. "This is how we can align the grit anddetermination of young change makers to meet the ambition of the SDGs. Ourmandate at Youth Co:Lab is to play the role of an integrator and strengthen theecosystem connecting young people with governments and businesses to scaleimpact."

"Youth Co:Lab's approach of listening tothe perspectives and ideas of young people, and empowering them to drivebusiness solutions that address our world's most pressing issues is how realchange happens," added Brandee McHale, President of the Citi Foundation. "Onlyby joining forces with multiple actors from the public and private sector,social partners, civil society and beyond can we work towards fulfilling theSustainable Development Goals."

"In thecurrent context of global integration and development, startups and innovationplay an important role in economic development, addressing global difficultiesand challenges as well as achieving sustainable development in eachcountry and all over the world," Vice Minister of Science and Technology, TranVan Tung, said in his opening remarks. "The Youth Co:Lab Summit 2019, jointlyorganized by UNDP and Citi Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry ofScience and Technology, is a significant event for the innovative startupcommunity and the social impact enterprises, in particular. The summit willenable an exchange of ideas and help further developing the start-ups, throughincubation, innovation, expanding connections and international cooperation."

The two-day summit brings together several keynotespeakers, prominent social entrepreneurs, youth change makers, principalgovernment officials and leading ecosystem players, including: ReyhanJamalova, Founder of Rainergy, Azerbaijan; Jack Sim, Founder of the World ToiletOrganization; H.E. MohamedAzmeel, Dept. Minister of Youth, Maldives; Mr. D.C. Dissanayake, Secretary tothe Ministry of Digital Infrastructure and Information Technology, Sri Lankaand Mr. Jame Ceasar Alejandro Ventura, Commissioner at large of National YouthCommission of the Philippines.

The summit will conclude with the Youth Co:LabRegional Social Innovation Challenge, where 30 teams, pre-selected during thenational social innovation challenges held across 16 countries respectively,will pitch and showcase their social enterprises and ideas to a panel ofesteemed judges.

About the 2019 Youth Co:Lab Summit

The second Asia Pacific Youth Co:LabSummit, being held in Hanoi, Viet Nam from 2nd -5th April, will bring togetherkey stakeholders - youth, government officials, the private sector,representatives from the UN and other international organizations tocollectively work towards building an ecosystem conducive to driving socialchange through innovation and entrepreneurship. Specially designed thematicdiscussions on focus areas will facilitate an exchange of ideas, knowledge andexperiences to influence policy.

Any interestto speak with the participants can be conveyed to the media contacts includedin this press release.

APPENDIX

About Youth Co:Lab

YOUTH LEADERSHIP, SOCIAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIPIN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

BRIEF CONTEXT

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Developmentrecognizes the important role of youth in achieving the Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs), and calls for action against the challenges faced by young peoplethat limits their economic, social and political inclusion. Today, young peopleare more connected, more creative, more informed and more persuasive than anyprevious generation. Young people are responding to the challenges of todaywith innovative approaches, contributing fresh ideas, creating the world theywant, and driving human development for themselves, their communities and theirsocieties. But at the same time, approximately 300 million young people areeither unemployed or underemployed. In other words, nearly half of the 700million young people in the region face economic insecurity. In addition, manyyoung people are left out of decision making processes, which furthercontributes to their marginalization and exclusion.

PROJECTOBJECTIVE

Co-createdin 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the CitiFoundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacificcountries to invest in and empower youth to accel­erate implementation of theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership,  social innovation and entre­preneurship. Bydeveloping 21^st century skills, catalyzing and sustaining youth-ledstartups and social enterprises across the region, Youth Co:Lab is positioningyoung people front and center in order to solve the region's most pressingchallenges. In addition to supporting youth entrepreneurship, Youth Co:Lab alsoworks closely with multiple stakeholders across the region, includinggovernments, civil society and the private sector, to strengthen theentrepreneurship ecosystem and policy support to better enable young people totake the lead on new solutions that will help meet the SDGs.

PROJECT OUTPUTS

• Hostingnational and regional dialogues, social innovation challenges, and other eventsacross the region to develop 21^st century skills of young people,foster youth-led entrepreneurship, provide leadership training opportunitiesfor young people and raise awareness about the SDGs in order to acceleratetheir implementation. 
• Creating aYouth Empowerment Alliance to support young entrepreneurs -- particularly youngwomen and marginalized youth -- by connecting them with businesses, incubators,accelerators, and financing mechanisms to develop their ideas intoviable business models for sustainable social impact.
• Conveningnetwork and policy dialogues to help create, through the development ofpartnerships and the adoption of policy, an environment whereby youngchange-mak­ers can have access to the space and resources needed to drivesocial change in their commu­nities and societies.
• Producingaction-oriented research on 21^st century skills, youthentrepreneurship and innovation.
• Building asustainable platform for long-term, multi-stakeholder national and regionalengagement.

PROJECTRESULTS & WHAT'S AHEAD

Over thelast two years, Youth Co:Lab has been implemented in 20 countries andterritories across the region. The national dialogues, regional summits andsocial innovation challenges, reached over 48,000 participants. The initiativehas benefitted over 2,500 young social entrepreneurs and helped launch orimprove nearly 500 social enterprises. Youth Co:Lab has also establishedpartnerships with over 100 key ecosystem players to strengthen the YouthEmpowerment Alliance.

In 2019,Youth Co:Lab aims to expand to at least 25 countries and territories, deepenmentorship capacity for youth entrepreneurs through the Springboard programme,and engage ecosystem partners in the development of young people's 21^stCentury skills.

THE 20 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES FOR 2018/2019

1.   Bangladesh

2.   Bhutan

3.   China

4.   Fiji

5.   India

6.   Indonesia

7.   Hong Kong

8.   Malaysia

9.   Maldives

10. Myanmar

11. Nepal

12. Philippines

13. Singapore

14. Samoa

15. Solomon Islands

16. Sri Lanka

17. Thailand

18. Timor Leste

19. Vanuatu

20. Vietnam

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries andjurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments andinstitutions with a broad range of financial products and services, includingconsumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securitiesbrokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found atwww.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: https://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

About Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote economicprogress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around theworld. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze jobopportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economicallyvibrant cities. The Citi Foundation's "More than Philanthropy"approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill ourmission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information,visit www.citifoundation.com.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help buildnations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growththat improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight tohelp empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org