World Bank Essay Competition

Current world population includes an estimated 1.2 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years, which is about 24.7% of the world’s working age population. Worldwide youth unemployment is high, almost three times higher than the adult unemployment rate. With the economic downturn, the worldwide youth unemployment is expected to reach 15% in 2009 (International Labor Organization, 2008). In certain parts of the world, i.e., Sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment rates can be as high as 60%. More than one third of the young people in the world are unemployed, have completely given up looking for a job or are working but still living below the $2 a day poverty line (ILO), or have migrated. Young job seekers face increasing difficulties finding work in the current economic scenario.

How can youths be part of the solution?

The Essay Competition invites youths to share ideas on:

How can you tackle youth unemployment through youth-led solutions?
Please answer both questions:

1. How does youth unemployment affect you, your country, town or local community?
2. What can you do, working together with your peers, to find a sustainable solution for job seekers through youth entrepreneurship? Think specifically about the barriers youths face in the labor market and how to tackle difficulties in accessing capital for business startups.

We encourage you to give concrete examples if you have personal experience as a young entrepreneur and if not share your ideas about how you would go about creating a business/ work opportunities in your local community/ town/ country.

Length and format

General: All work must be submitted by individuals, group work is not allowed.
One participant may only submit one work per category. However, one participant may (but doesn’t have to, of course) submit work in both categories, that is: one essay and one video.
All submissions must be made online via the Essay Competition website. Videos are submitted via YouTube.

Submissions can be made in English, French or Spanish.

Essay: Your essay may not be longer than 4000 words (about 10 pages of standard text). Essays are accepted in the following formats: .doc or .pdf.
You are also required to provide a summary of no more than 250 words. The summary will be used by the jury to make a pre-selection.

Video: Your video may not be longer than 2 minutes.
To submit a video, you must create a YouTube account and upload your work on the YouTube website. Additionally, you are required to submit a form via the Essay Competition website, which will allow us to identify your work. Details of the submission process please click here.