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October 2, 2017 —  A new partnership launched today between the Citi Foundation and the ̽����ѡ will provide refugees, young people displaced within their own countries and vulnerable youth from the communities hosting them with support to help them generate a reliable income and contribute to their local economy.

Throughout the two-year project, Rescuing Futures, nearly 1,000 young people across three cities; Athens in Greece, Amman in Jordan and Yola in northeast Nigeria, will be supported to start their own businesses. 

David Miliband, President and CEO of the ̽����ѡ said: “The ̽����ѡ’s partnership with the Citi Foundation represents a best-in-class global public-private partnership. 

“The ̽����ѡ has unique expertise in working with conflict-affected populations and the urban-displaced to build economic resilience. Alongside the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative, a commendable commitment to investing in the futures of young people, this project will have a life-changing impact on some of the most marginalized youth around the world.” 

The humanitarian landscape is changing; 60% of the world’s refugees, and 80% of internally displaced people, now live in urban areas, and four-fifths live in developing countries that can least afford to host them. There are more young people in the world now than ever before – 1.2 billion – and they face huge challenges with employment. 

Jim Cowles, CEO of Citi Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) said: “Our Pathways to Progress initiative is our solution to securing positive futures for vulnerable young people. Working with the ̽����ѡ will enable us to invest in some of EMEA’s most vulnerable youth and put them on a sustainable economic path. 

“Given today’s context, well-designed interventions like Rescuing Futures can address inequality of opportunity, and positively impact community wellbeing and economic growth.”

The Citi Foundation is a longstanding supporter of the ̽����ѡ, helping to fund their Research & Development and emergency work in recent years. This year saw the expansion of the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative globally with a $100million commitment to reach 500,000 young people with entrepreneurship and employability training before 2020.

Alongside the $2 million grant from the Citi Foundation, a further $8 million has been committed across EMEA to support programmes under the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative and contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goal 8: reducing youth unemployment. Grants include $1.6 million to Youth Business International, $1.3 million to TechnoServe, $450,000 to United States African Development Foundation, and $450,000 to Ruwwad Al-Tanmeya.