Youth-Led Solutions Initiative

With your support, we can empower young people through the Youth-Led Solutions Initiative to become problem-solvers and drive sustainable development efforts in their communities.

Young people have the power to be change agents

The World YMCA believes that the role of young people as change agents is increasingly important, as the global risks to society intensify and efforts to address them remain insufficient. Young people hold the power, empathy, and technological ingenuity to help solve these problems. They just need and want the tools and resources to do so.

Now, more than ever

Tragically, young people have been hit hard by the pandemic. They have lost jobs, lost education, and many are suffering from mental health issues.  The International Monetary Fund worries that today’s young may never fully recover, and the International Labour Organisation is concerned about a “lost generation”.

The Youth-Led Solutions Initiative

The YMCA launched the Youth-Led Solution Initiative (YLSI) to equip young people with knowledge, networks, tools, and resources to lead change in their communities and the world and to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The YLSI tackles three of the greatest challenges facing young people today – the climate crisis, the jobs crisis, and a growing mental health crisis. Read about it here on the World YMCA website and here on the official Youth-Led Solutions Initiative (YLSI) site. And see here how the October 2020 climate action summit led to 35 new youth-led projects worldwide.

Your contribution will enable us to empower more young people

Our global Summits are of course free – we want as many young people as possible to participate.

But your financial contribution will help ensure that the sessions and summit materials are accessible to young people around the world through quality interpretation and internet access. You will also help ensure that young people have some funding to implement their community projects and get a chance to tell their story.

Thank you for giving.