Maldives currently has an unemployment rate of 8 percent among youth and an underemployment rate of 26.8 percent[1]. However, with the increasing social awareness and active involvement in addressing pressing social issues, Youth of Maldives have tremendous potential in helping the nation tackle the development challenges faced through social entrepreneurship and innovation. Adding on, the country’s growing entrepreneurship ecosystem would be a useful asset in creating sustainable solutions for the communities.

UNDP’s 3rd National Dialogue on Fostering Sustainable Youth Entrepreneurship is guided by the importance of bringing the efforts to promote youth-led entrepreneurship and social innovation to the national level to lead social change in their communities and achieve the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). Building on the National Dialogues that were held under the programme during the past two years, UNDP is seeking to advance the platform to foster greater dialogue among youth entrepreneurs, government and key actors in the industry on the improvement of the overall start-up ecosystem.

The main objectives of this year’s National Dialogue is to enable knowledge sharing between youth entrepreneurs and industry experts and relevant agencies, and to facilitate a consultation process where youth entrepreneurs can provide their input on different aspects of the start-up ecosystem.

UNDP’s 3rd National Dialogue on Fostering Sustainable Youth Entrepreneurship which targets youth aged 18-30 across Maldives, is a platform that brings key industry players under one roof for two days of interactive exchange of ideas and experiences. The discussions will be held in Male’ on the 13th and 14th of November 2019.

Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. By developing young people’s 21st century skills, and by catalyzing and sustaining youth-led startups and social enterprises across the region, Youth Co:Lab is positioning young people front and center in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges. Youth Co:Lab also works towards strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem and to promote policies that will support and enable young people to take the lead in finding and developing new solutions for social and environmental problems in their communities.

UNDP has been in the Maldives for almost 40 years and is committed to working with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, UNDP offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

Source: UNDP