The UN DESA's 2019 World Youth Report on Youth Social Entrepreneurship: An Integrated Development Solution Toward the 2030 Agenda examines youth social entrepreneurship through the lens of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also provides policy guidance to Member States for the development of national ecosystems supporting and leveraging youth social entrepreneurship as a tool in the realization of the SDGs.

Young people’s desire to “do good” socially while they “do well” economically is translating into a rise in the number of youth social enterprises around the world.  Given this hybrid goal, social enterprises can be particularly apt at generating locally-driven responses to a wide array of issues hindering collective social progress and economic development, and this can ultimately generate opportunities for vulnerable groups and therefore reduce inequalities as well as promote inclusion. In turn, this process can contribute to system change from the grounds up. For social enterprises to reach their full potential, ecosystems composed of conducive policies and regulatory frameworks need to be put in place. Together, these policies need to foster dynamic skills development, ensure the availability of sufficient financial capital, generate efficient technical support, and develop an enabling infrastructure and regulatory environment. Lastly, an empowering culture and societal norms supportive of social entrepreneurship are also needed to fully reap the benefits of social entrepreneurship.  In this context, the World Youth Report seeks to: Examine how youth social entrepreneurship represents a financially sustainable and socially transformative tool to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the SDGs. Explore the potential and limits of youth social entrepreneurship as well as its synergies with other types of social and solidarity economy. Offer policy guidance to build empowering, responsive and sustainable national ecosystems for young social entrepreneurs.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA)