The Buhari led administration in collaboration with the United Nations has introduced the intervention effort by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to urgently support expanded education, training and employment opportunities for young people between the age of 10 – 24, on an unprecedented scale.
This initiative named Generation Unlimited, (Gen) is a global multi-sector partnership that was initially launched in September 2018, in collaboration with over 200 partners for expanded education, training and employment opportunities for young people and this initiative has reached more than 100 million young people globally through innovations and programmes in more than 40 countries across six continents.
Generation Unlimited brings together partners from government, multilateral organizations, civil society, the private sector and young people from around the world.
Dr. Kevin Frey who is the current Chief Executive Officer of Generation Unlimited has diverse private and public sector experience –as both an entrepreneur and an executive—spanning the education, technology, human capital and international development spheres.
Prior to joining Generation Unlimited as CEO in 2021, Kevin was the CEO of Right To Play — an international development organization that works across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to protect, educate, and empower children and youth.
The introduction of GenU Nigeria is however a national event, drawing participants like Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Kano State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki Edo State Governor as well as Mr Edward Kallon, UN Resident Coordinator.
GenU Nigeria now has a wide range of Development Partners which include the African Development Bank, ILO, UNDP GIZ, USAID and Private Sector Organizations such as Airtel, Microsoft, University of Cambridge, Boston Consulting Group, UBA Foundation, Jobberman and Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF).
The target in Nigeria is to reach 2 million young people aged 10-24years by 2023 and 20 million by 2030 with education, skills training, employment, entrepreneurship and empowerment.
GenU Nigeria will however be implemented in 12 states distributed across the 6 geo-political zones in the country. In the South West, Lagos State and Ogun State; North East, Borno State and Bauchi State; South East, Ebonyi State and Enugu State; North Central, Niger State and Benue State; Northwest, Kano State and Kaduna State and South South, Rivers State and Cross Rivers.
Gen U Nigeria’s pilot implementation will be in Lagos and Kano States and will be directly implemented at the State government levels, through the Governor’s offices in the States.
Other African countries currently participating in the GenU partnership include Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Niger Republic.
