GYEOS Sessions       Connect with Global Young Leaders       Resources       Technical Experts

IREX's youth technical experts and  global young leaders will share their insights and learnings at the 2023 Global Youth Economic Summit (GYEOS) in Silver Spring, Maryland.

This year IREX's Silvya Kananu of Kenya will moderate the GYEOS opening plenary session on shifting power dynamics through youth-led development. Throughout the week, IREX sessions at GYEOS will highlight key technical work including youth essential skills/skill measurement, and youth-led research on youth workforce transitions.   We will also present a tool that helps stakeholders follow a positive youth development approach and understand ways to put youth  at the forefront of the design and implementation of career and professional development programming.  Finally and most importantly, don’t miss the opportunity to connect with our global young leaders who will be learning and presenting alongside of our IREX team and global youth development experts.

Join us in-person for the following sessions: 

Summit Opening Plenary: Shifting Power Dynamics through Youth-Led Development

Tuesday May 16, 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm ET 

Donors and development institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of rethinking how they fund and implement development programming, including how they partner with youth and youth organizations. There are encouraging signs of emerging change in recent policies prioritizing funding to local organizations and programs that seek to address power differentials between adult-led and youth-led institutions. Yet institutional barriers and norms persist, and change will not be immediate. This fireside chat will offer a frank conversation between two youth leaders sharing experiences from working with or as partners with development institutions, highlighting challenges, promising strategies, and what else is needed to ‘move the needle.’ 

​Moderator: Silvya Kananu- Project Lead, Youth Excel, IREX

​Speakers: 

• Chido Mpemba- Special Envoy on Youth, African Union Commission and Cabinet
• Marija Vasileva-Blazev - Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General's Youth Envoy, United Nations

Incorporating Positive Youth Development into Youth Career Planning and Professional Development: Case Studies from Iraq and Yemen

May 17, 2023; 8:30 – 9:15 a.m. ET

Though youth unemployment is a critical global challenge, youth are often excluded from design discussions for programs focused on their own career and professional development. Donors, implementers, governments, and employers frequently craft solutions for youth and deliver them to youth. During this session, EFE and IREX will present a tool that helps stakeholders follow a positive youth development approach and understand ways to put youth in the forefront of the design and implementation of career and professional development programming. EFE and IREX will employ case studies from Yemen and Iraq to highlight how a PYD approach can empower youth to be innovative solution makers for themselves and their communities. Session participants will then engage in a group problem solving session on how to employ the tool to effectively incorporate a PYD approach into different types of programs focused on youth economic opportunities.

Speakers: 

• Sarah Little- Director of Programs and Business Development, Education for Employment (EFE)
• Syako Shekho- Senior Program Officer, IREX 
• Ameen Al-Qadri- Chief Executive Officer, Education for Employment (EFE)- Yemen 
• Radwan El-Feel- Youth Alumnus, Education for Employment (EFE)- Yemen

Research-to-Change: Local youth implementers powering inclusive workforce development with data

May 18, 10:45 am - 11:45am ET  

Strengthening local workforce developments systems requires inclusive leadership from local youth organizations, who fill key gaps in delivering workforce-relevant training, offering programs to underserved groups, and more. USAID’s Youth Excel is supporting local youth organizations to do just this with data and evidence that they themselves generate. In this session you will learn about Youth Excel’s unique open-source implementation research approach (branded ‘Research-to-Change’). You will hear from two leaders at local youth organizations (Karen Carvajalino, The Biz Nation, Colombia and Graciela Coy, Ak’Tenamit, Guatemala) on how they have used Research-to-Change to strengthen and ‘power’ local-level inclusion in workforce development programs and participate in an interactive discussion on effective ways to support youth leadership in strengthening workforce development systems. 

Speakers:

• Graciela Coy, President and Legal Representative, Ak’Tenamit Association
• Karen Carvajalino, Co-Founder, Biz Nation
• Brian Batayeh, Technical Advisor for Implementation Research, IREX