The Centre for International Development (CID) Harvard Speaker Series interviews Sharmi Surianarain, Chief Impact Officer of the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, and Kate Orkin, a faculty member in Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, who discuss inclusive employment for South African Youth.

South Africa has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. Annually, approximately 1 million young people exit schooling and enter the labour market. Within a year, nearly two-thirds are unemployed and discouraged, meaning only one-third find any kind of work or continue to further education.

Harambee develops solutions to promote inclusive growth and reduce unemployment by identifying and creating jobs and work experiences for young people, breaking barriers for young people to access work, and linking young work-seekers to formal and informal work opportunities.

In this CID Harvard Speaker session, Harambee and its key research partners share lessons from 10 years of impact and partnership with government, business, and civil society to achieve practical and scalable impact. In addressing South Africa’s challenge, Harambee believes an African blueprint can be prototyped to help solve a global challenge.

This conversation was moderated by Eliana Carranza, Senior World Bank Economist and Harvard Kennedy School Adjunct Lecturer.

Watch the full interview here: