Many young people in developing countries lack access to modern education on business development and the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This makes it hard for the growing numbers of youth to successfully compete in the job-market and to contribute to their countries’ economic development.

UNIDO assists in enhancing national capacities which drive business opportunities, self-employment, and employability for all segments of the population, and particularly among young people, and in developing necessary industrial human resources for advancing ISID.

UNIDO also encourages improvements in the regulatory and administrative environment to promote competitive entrepreneurial activities in the formal sector, including through broad-based curriculum development programmes for entrepreneurship education and skills training. Through this, it supports the development of necessary industrial and entrepreneurial human resources that build the foundation for private sector development and ISID.

UNIDO also supports, in addition, the development of entrepreneurial culture and skills through the Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme (ECP) and by improving the performance of public services for businesses to create an environment where entrepreneurial actions are rewarded. Using a bottom-up growth strategy for poverty reduction, ECP introduces practical entrepreneurship curricula at secondary and vocational training institutions, particularly targeting the development of entrepreneurial skills among young people, both girls and boys, before they enter into the workforce. This is enriched through elements of ICT training, combining the basics of entrepreneurship with practical experiences in the use of new technology and thus preparing young people for key labour market requirements and an increasingly networked information society.