What you need to know

• Around 20% of the world’s youth – roughly 260 million people – are currently not in employment, education, or training.
• Upskilling the workforce through vocational and on-the-job training has the potential to boost global GDP by about $6.5 trillion by 2030.
• Vocational education and training focus on hands-on skills and direct industry experience, which can translate to a faster route to employment. Globally, young women are far more likely to be out of school and out of work. In 2023, twice as many young women (28%) as men (13%) were not in education, employment, or training.
• If women participated equally in the economy after education and vocational training, it could boost global GDP by over 20%, adding roughly $15 trillion to today’s world economy.

It was the last place she ever thought she’d be.

Tafadzwa is standing on a construction site, measuring out a foundation line. The work is precise. If it’s off, even by a little, the whole structure won’t hold.

She had to leave school in Grade 5, before fully learning how to read or write – her family couldn’t afford the fees. After that, she found herself spending most of her days at home, unsure of what would come next.

Now the 20-year-old works on a construction team in Zimbabwe, laying bricks, plastering walls, and setting out the exact dimensions of a new building.

That shift didn’t happen by chance. It happened after Tafadzwa heard about Plan International’s Supporting Adolescent Girls’ Education (SAGE) project from a friend and saw how it can help young women change their lives.

“I was so inspired that I decided to join SAGE,” she said. The project took her back to the foundations of education: reading and writing.

There she met a teacher who inspired her, and she was quickly able to learn bricklaying and construction, subjects that had been foreign to her until then.

“He taught me bricklaying, plastering, setting out [transferring designs from plans to the build site],” she says. “He also taught me the techniques for digging a foundation.”

Tafadzwa finished the course and was hired soon after.

Today, she earns an income. Her siblings, who had been out of school, are also back in class now that she can help them with expenses.

For Tafadzwa, the difference is straightforward: When skills training matches real jobs, education doesn’t just end with a certificate – it lays a path to the future.

Why youth employment is important

Working in construction has changed not only Tafadzwa’s life but her family’s, too. She feels more confident and helps provide income for her family, including her siblings.

“My siblings were not at school before, but now they are all able to attend school because of my work,” she says. “I can now buy food for my family and even treat my siblings with new clothes.”

That’s the power of vocational education. This kind of training, which aligns directly with what market demands, gives young women like Tafadzwa an opportunity to return to education and learn practical skills to earn an income.

The International Labour Organization estimates that in 2025, 262 million young people ages 15 to 24 – or one in four – were not in education, employment, or training. According to the group, if women participated equally in the economy after education and vocational training, it could boost global GDP by over 20%, adding roughly $15 trillion to today’s world economy.

A new mom builds a new life

Perla was at home, caring for her newborn daughter. She dropped out of school when she became pregnant, and she was struggling to find work in a competitive job market in the Dominican Republic.

Over time, she lost her confidence and felt hopeless. Still, she wanted more.

“That’s why I started looking for a short course or training program,” she says. “Then I came across the TUI Academy.”

The academy, established by Plan International in partnership with the TUI Care Foundation, helps students build English skills as well as information-and-communication-technology skills that help them understand and use a wide range of technology and software. They also learn about equality and sexual and reproductive health. After two months, students begin an internship at a hotel.

Perla enrolled at 18, when her daughter was six months old. At first, she was extremely shy, recalls Kirsis Alcala, a program officer with Plan International who supports young people in the Dominican Republic.

“After the life-skills lessons, I saw Perla blossom,” says Alcala. “Now she speaks about her experience with confidence and pride. It’s truly inspiring to see her growth.”

“I especially enjoyed the administrative-skills lessons,” says Perla. “I learned how to work in a disciplined way, communicate better with people, and build confidence in the workplace.”

For young mothers like Perla, the academy also provides child care, making it possible for them to keep learning.

Today, Perla has completed the program and is working as a kids’ club entertainer at the hotel where she interned.

“I’m so happy to have a permanent job now,” she says. “It means I can build a future for myself and my daughter.”

Turning waste to works of art

When Bada was in Grade 11, he was forced to drop out of school because his family couldn’t afford school fees anymore.

Bada moved to the city, inspired by his brother, to train as a tailor. But life was difficult, trying to find a place of his own and also buy necessities on a very limited income. So weekends became a lifeline for him, when he could do odd jobs to make ends meet.

It was during one of these jobs when a friend introduced him to a local youth association supported by Plan International’s Youth Empowerment in West Africa (YEWA) project in Togo. Intrigued, Bada attended a meeting and joined a training program on climate change and crisis management.

“After the green-skills training, I had the idea of transforming what people consider to be waste into useful objects,” he says.

Starting small, he crafted three handbags, a jewellery box, and four purses from used cardboard boxes, scraps of cloth, and recycled plastic water bottles. They sold out immediately, sparking a wave of new orders.

“I am very happy today because this activity allows me to pay my rent, support myself, and contribute to protecting the environment,” says Bada.