Nestlé is strengthening its commitment to young people in the Pacific Alliance countries as part of the regional Alliance for YOUth to help 30,000 young people find employment opportunities by 2020.
Under Nestlé’s leadership, the Alliance for YOUth was launched last year in the Pacific Alliance Youth Summit in Santiago de Chile, where we joined forces with 36 companies, the International Youth Organization for Ibero-America (OIJ) and the governments of the Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru to promote youth employability and entrepreneurship.
Building on its successes to date, the Alliance for YOUth is increasing its commitment from 17,000 to 30,000 young people impacted by the initiative in the Pacific Alliance countries by end of 2020.
According to the International Labor Organization, the youth unemployment rate is 18.5% for 15 to 24 year-olds in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Laurent Freixe, Nestlé CEO for Zone Americas, said it was important to be part of the solution.
"Our engagement with the young generation is a long-term commitment, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. At Nestlé, our ambition is to create opportunities for youth across our value chain through direct job opportunities, apprenticeships and internships, and through supporting young entrepreneurs as well as agripreneurs.
"The leaders of tomorrow need our guidance, our support, and above all they need opportunities and platforms where their voices can be heard and their ideas realized. By facilitating the social and economic integration of young people we are contributing to build a better future for everyone."
The increased commitment was made at the Third Pacific Alliance Youth Summit in Cali, Colombia this week, attended by the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, representatives from the governments of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, the Government of Switzerland, International Labour Organization, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, entrepreneurs and young people.
The summit focused on the role of the dual-education model in the transformation of society, perspectives on employment and labor mobility, as well as successful business models for entrepreneurs and agripreneurs.
To learn more about our commitment to youth in the Pacific Alliance, and the event itself, visit our dedicated website (in Spanish).