Meaningful Work

YMCA is committed to providing quality education, vocational training, and opportunities to young people to prepare ensure they have the experience and knowledge needed to succeed in today’s modern work environment.

Young people are valuable economic participants and have a right to contribute to the world’s development and wellbeing. Through YMCA programmes, young people address issues relating to youth employment and economic empowerment.

• Some 75 National YMCAs worldwide are working in employment related issues
• YMCA worldwide runs nearly 5,000 programmes on employment related issues, involving and reaching almost 516,000 people (Data: 2018)

Wait for more when the new YMCA-wide worldwide Employment and Entrepreneurship ‘Community of Impact’ brings together all of the Movement’s work on the issue, and how it plans to share and accelerate that work.

Examples of projects

• African Knowledge Creation (YMCA Africa): the African Renaissance University (ARU) aims to prepare a generation of transformed leaders for the African Renaissance. In terms of locating the university in Kenya, the ARU main campus will be at YMCA Limuru Agricultural College (YLAC) and its technical wing at Shauri Moyo, National Training Institute (NTI).
• Vocational Training Center – Jericho (YMCA East Jerusalem): operates a variety of programs and activities consistent with its vision for Holistic Youth Development.
• YMCA Niagara (YMCA Canada) offers employment programmes to support job seekers
• YMCA Project Bridge (YMCA Singapore / Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs) reaches out to out-of-school youth and youth-at-risk to integrate them back into society through meaningful programmes and activities.
• Virtual learning spaces during Covid-19 (YMCA USA)

Vision 2030

YMCA Vision 2030 is a Movement-wide Vision statement, Mission statement, and four key areas of activity (‘Pillars of Impact’). It was adopted at the 20^th YMCA World Council in July 2022.

Each of the four key areas of activity sets three collective goals to turn the priorities into action: at the YMCA, at the community, and at the global levels.

Vision 2030 is a framework for global alignment which allows each of the 120 YMCA National Movements to go at their own pace according to their own strengths and their own communities’ needs, in pursuit of common goals.

Vision 2030 pdf
Position paper

Position paper

Read the World YMCA’s position paper on Employment (2018 – PDF – 7KB)