Pan-African Collective for Evidence website

The Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub is a consortium born out of the Pan-African Collective for Evidence (PACE), driven by a passion to provide the best available and contextually-relevant evidence, and deliver it with – and not merely for – decision-makers in Africa. Hosted by PACE, the hub is composed of key organisations from across and beyond Africa, whose expertise and experience will help deliver evidence and insights on a range of issues related to youth employment in Africa both to decision-makers, and to the community at large.

The Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub Repository

What is it?

The repository is an open-access ‘public good’ repository of youth employment evidence across the thematic areas of digital economy, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, health and education. The repository incorporates multiple types of evidence, including published primary research, local evidence, grey literature, project reports and other evidence sourced systematically through the delivery of rapid evidence reviews and searches for evidence on youth employment solutions, particularly for young women.

Why is it important?

Against the backdrop of Africa’s high youth unemployment rate, there is arguably no greater priority facing decision-makers right now. In support of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy, the Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub recognizes the need for access to rigorous evidence that is up-to-date and locally relevant to improve the strategic and programmatic decisions of the Mastercard Foundation to realize their vision of providing dignified and fulfilling work for African youth, particularly young women. The integration of the best available local and living evidence into decision-making can reduce waste, avoid harm, and increase accountability. Moreover, the repository as an open-access resource can ensure increased stakeholder involvement for evidence producers, evidence brokers and evidence users alike.

Thematic Briefs

As part of the Youth Employment and Evidence Insights Hub programme, four thematic briefs were developed to explore critical issues shaping the future of youth employment and inclusion in Africa. These briefs focus on:

Entrepreneurship for young women and girls in Africa
Transition experiences of young women and girls living with disabilities, as well as refugees and internally displaced young women and girls
Climate action and youth employment
Supporting young women’s participation in entrepreneurship and workforce development

While the insights primarily inform programming implications, their relevance is wide-ranging – offering valuable perspectives for public discourse, policy dialogue, and the broader framing of issues affecting young women and girls across the continent. Collectively, they provide evidence-informed insights for designing inclusive, gender-responsive, and forward-looking employment strategies.

Evidence Map

Description

This evidence map seeks to collate the available evidence on interventions to support employment interventions for young women and girls in Africa. The evidence map sample covers the period 2000-2024 and consists of 100 unique references, including primary studies, local evidence and indigenous knowledge sources. The evidence map will remain living and add more studies in subsequent updates.

This evidence map was produced by the Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. It was a one-year initiative that ran between 2024 and 2025 to deliver rigorous, timely, contextualized and relevant evidence and insights to accompany the delivery of the Young Africa Works Strategy.

Evidence Summaries

These evidence summaries provide accessible overviews of key findings, insights, and implications drawn from a set of protected technical reports. They are designed to support public engagement and knowledge-sharing by presenting the evidence in a clear and user-friendly format, while retaining the core messages and insights of the original work. Each summary highlights the main themes, emerging lessons, and practical considerations for policy and programme decision-making.

The Youth Employment Evidence and Insights Hub