Expert Meeting Report: Youth entrepreneurship development in conflict affected environments

The expert meeting on Youth Entrepreneurship Development in Conflict Affected Environments, was designed to deepen the understanding and develop practical approaches to creating entrepreneurship opportunities for young and ambitious people in conflict affected environments – and to create a platform for discussion on this topic for the ongoing future. The meeting brought together experts from various sectors, including two keynote speakers: Magdi A. Amin, (IFC, Principal Economist, Office of Executive Vice President & CEO) and Tarik Yousef (Silatech, CEO). It was organized by SPARK and Clingendael.

SPARK concludes that too often, programmes have started without mapping the market properly to start. It would certainly motivate participating entrepreneurs as they would concretely see the opportunity and focus them and would multiply the likelihood of their success; a close cooperation with the private sector is essential to achieve this.”

CRU concluded by highlighting the many ways in which youth entrepreneurship can contribute to fostering peace: Even if only few young women and men will actually be successful in establishing and running their own business, entrepreneurial skills such as leadership, innovation, problem solving, and networking constitute key assets to (re-) build inclusive and thriving societies. The impact of such skills on peacebuilding should be further researched.