Корпорации и волонтерские организации разработали стратегию борьбы с безработицей среди молодежи в ЮАР

Discovery recently hosted a strategic dialogue at its head office in Sandton, Johannesburg. Held in partnership with the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE), the meeting, Force for Good: Corporate Volunteering to Catalyse Youth Futures, focused on how corporate volunteering can become a coordinated and scalable force for youth employability in South Africa. Image supplied. Corporate leaders, global volunteer organisations, youth development practitioners and technology partners discussed ways to get young people into the economy. Opening the event, Barry Swartzberg, co-founder of Discovery Limited, reinforced the need for businesses to play a more active and collaborative role in shaping South Africa’s future workforce. Andronica Mabuya, head of CSI at Discovery Limited, framed the strategic imperative for collective action around youth futures and the “pandemic of unemployment facing South Africa”. Highlighting the stark reality that two million young people are unemployed in the country, she said, “The purpose of this platform is to co-create and ideate solutions for young people. “We believe that many young people are sitting at home without employment, not because they lack talent, but because clear pathways have not been created for them. “As corporates, we need to step up and take shared responsibility – not only within our own sectors, but by working together to find meaningful, scalable solutions. “If we continue to operate in silos, we will not achieve the necessary impact or realise the true return on investment in youth initiatives.” Experience needed A central theme emerging was that youth development requires far more than access to online learning alone. Speakers consistently highlighted the importance of combining technical skills with mentorship, real-world experience, human connection, and visible economic opportunity. Nichole Cirillo, executive director of IAVE, shared global insights from the Call to Action for the Future of Volunteering, IAVE’s framework that urges governments, business and civil society to strengthen the recognition, support and safeguarding of volunteers to accelerate sustainable development outcomes worldwide. Call to Action has been shaped by nearly 14,000 stakeholders across 164 countries and is available in eight languages. Cirillo also highlighted the growing momentum around the United Nations International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development (IVY 2026), positioning South Africa as an important market for demonstrating how volunteerism can directly contribute to employability, resilience, and economic inclusion. The dialogue featured a series of practical models already delivering measurable impact in communities across Africa. IBM presented its global IBM SkillsBuild programme, a free education platform that provides learners with access to technology and workplace-readiness training in areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data science, and cloud computing. The programme supports learners across multiple stages of development and aims to equip young people with internationally recognised digital credentials and practical skills for the future world of work. IAVE puts that platform to work across Africa through its Reskilling Revolution Africa initiative (RRA), delivered in partnership with IBM SkillsBuild and local implementing organisations. To date, the programme has mobilised more than 54,000 learners across Africa, with over 2,000 digital credentials earned and more than 153,000 learning hours completed. Frontline insights One of the most powerful contributions came from Langelihle Gumede of Lungelo Youth Development, who shared frontline implementation insights from KwaZulu-Natal. Her presentation highlighted the realities many young South Africans face, including a lack of visible opportunities, limited access to devices and connectivity, and a lack of mentorship and guidance into unfamiliar industries. “Not just skills. We need real pathways: internships, learnerships, and a first job. “Without that visible destination, the journey feels pointless,” Gumede noted during the session. Discussions reinforced that successful youth development programmes must be designed with communities, not simply for them, and that facilitator support, mentorship and local context are critical to learner retention and long-term success. Impact at scale Innovation platform Zlto also showcased how technology-enabled volunteering and incentive systems are helping create measurable social impact at scale. Through its digital platform, young people are rewarded for completing community tasks, learning programmes and entrepreneurship activities. At the same time, corporates and development partners gain access to verified impact data and engagement insights. To date, the Zlto platform has registered nearly 1.5 million users, facilitated over 3.3 million transactions and tracked approximately 2.7 million volunteer and learning hours across multiple initiatives. The dialogue concluded with a facilitated session focused on defining a shared cross-sector purpose for joint action on youth futures, and identifying practical next steps for collaboration among corporate South Africa, implementation partners and the broader volunteering ecosystem. Participants agreed that corporate volunteering has the potential to become a strategic driver of youth employability when it is intentionally structured around pathways to work, digital inclusion, mentorship and ecosystem partnerships. The gathering also laid the foundation for future collaboration aligned to IVY 2026 and broader efforts to position volunteerism as a critical mechanism for inclusive economic participation and sustainable development.