Blog

There have been steady increases in volunteering organizations that offer opportunities for diaspora community members to return and serve in their home countries.

Corrinne Ngurukie of YouthSave discusses YouthSave's focus on providing the evidence base for youth savings products

Ali Faroun discusses PMA's recent steps to strengthen financial consumer protection and promote financial literacy among Palestinian youth

Maria Stephens, Senior Technical Advisor at USAID, introduces the new Mobile Financial Services Seminar Series from the USAID Microenterprise Development office.

Find all of the Microlinks coverage from the Making Cents 2011 Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference in one place, along with great photos from the three-day event!

Making Cents Conference: Dr Sanjaya Acharya discusses the current youth oriented finance restructuring in Nepal

Mike Rios of 17 Triggers provides insights from the plenary session, "Entertainment for Change-- Effective Uses of Entertainment Education, Social Media and Social Marketing."

Peter Coy, Bloomberg Businessweek provides key takeaways from the opening plenary at the Making Cents International Conference.

The panelists jumped right into the session with their thoughts on the most exciting technology-related breakthroughs in the field.

Only a third of youth in the Arab world believe their education has prepared them to get a job, according to a recent study by the Education for Employment Foundation.

Moderator Tim Nourse stressed the importance of fostering partnerships with donors rather than solely focusing on getting programs funded.

Upgrading has implications for the workforce and means that needs are constantly changing. In developing countries, it could be that a whole host of skills and occupations totally unknown today will be totally essential in three years’ time.

Technology panelists share their insights from the plenary "How Is Technology Causing Breakthroughs in Youth Economic Opportunity?"

Guest blogger Brenda Schuster (Youth and HIV Technical Advisor for Catholic Relief Services) reports back on the Making Cents Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference’s final morning plenary session, “Youth Economic Opportunity in the MENA Region.” This session included Brandee McHale, COO of Citi Foundation, Svava Bjarnason, IFC Senior Education Specialist, Jamie McAuliffe, President and CEO of the Education for Employment Foundation, and Awais Sufi, Vice President for Work Programs at the International Youth Foundation.

Nobody ever starts a big business – nobody comes up with an idea and goes out and hires 10,000 people…you start with the right idea at the right time in the right place and then you grow.

Brenda Schuster, Technical Advisor for Catholic Relief Services, shares out from the Making Cents Youth Economic Opportunities Conference on "Changing Course: Transforming at-risk and gang-involved youth through enterprise development".

Ambassador Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator at USAID, discusses USAID's new approach towards youth and development.

The message from the opening plenary at the Making Cents International Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference was clear: youth employment is more important than ever.

Twitter highlights from day one of the Making Cents Conference.

Three practitioners spoke openly about the challenges and lessons their organizations have experienced in advancing youth-inclusive financial services.

A variety of emerging technologies connects the digital fieldworker to the value chain, according to Shaun Ferris of Catholic Relief Services in his presentation, “CRS ICT4D Strategy,” at the ICT4D August Meetup.

On August 22, the ICT for Development (ICT4D) Learning Network hosted an expert panel on how ICTs, or information and communication technologies, are enabling agriculture and improving livelihoods worldwide.

Maria Luisa Haymen provides key takeaways from her presentation at USAID After Hours #54, "Government Payments and Savings: A Last Mile Approach."  Maria Luisa Hayem is a consultant at the MIF’s Access to Finance Unit, where she works on projects to promote financial inclusion of low-income individuals.

Experts from IDB’s Multilateral Investment Fund and the Citi Foundation presented their approach to promote financial inclusion among government payments recipients in the LAC region.

In March, the World Bank and Russian Ministry of Finance signed an agreement to create a $25 million project to encourage more citizens with middle and low incomes to save regularly as well as to participate in financial services.