The Youth Entrepreneurship Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean: Impact Report

Youth Business International (YBI) partnered with the Inter-American Development Banks innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, to design and deliver a regional Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP). The programme worked over six years (2013-2019) to address the challenge of high youth unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean by expanding and strengthening entrepreneurship support services for vulnerable youth. Through YEP, 64,000 youth were trained with entrepreneurship skills in partnership with YBI member organizations in ten countries. Close to 20,000 businesses were started or strengthened, over 13,000 new jobs were created, and 86% of the businesses supported under the project had increased sales one year after receiving support. All ten local entrepreneurship support organizations report increased capacity to provide quality entrepreneurship services that respond to the changing needs of youth in todays digital economy. This report shares the impact of the program.