Enabling poor rural people
to overcome poverty
The Asia and the Pacific region is home to 61.5 per cent of the world’s youth.1 The global economic downturn has worsened an already tough situation for young people who live in rural areas. The lack of employment opportunities there means that many young people are either jobless or forced into informal, insecure and low-wage employment. Many move to cities or to other countries, where they often find themselves even worse off.2
Despite these constraints, given the right training and chances for professional development, young rural people can improve their skills and employment prospects both in agriculture and the non-agriculture sector.
This side event, organized by the Asia and the Pacific Division, will discuss the opportunities and challenges encountered in engaging young rural people in development activities in the region. The event will also outline a range of options for enhancing the skills and knowledge of young people involved in IFAD-supported projects and programmes to improve their chances of gaining rural employment.
The event will take the form of an interactive talk show involving representatives from the public and private sector, and experts in areas such as information and communications technology for livelihoods and rural microenterprises.
1/ Employment for Rural Youth in Asia and the Pacific, Jobs and empowerment on-and off-farm. Opportunities in the rural non-farm sector in India. Youth Entrepreneurship Sustainability (YES Campaign),
2/ Making a difference in Asia and the Pacific, Issue 29, November-December 2009. IFAD, 2009,