Youth Career Trail Project

On July 24, 2008 at UN New York Headquarters, the AGBU-UN SIG in cooperation with UNDP hosted a benefit reception in support of the Youth Career Trail Project in Armenia. Your support for this event raised $6,000, which will cover the internship stipends for ten upcoming Youth Career Trail Project participants.

The video below, which includes interviews with two intern alumnae of the program, was presented at the event.

The UNDP Youth Career Trail project offers recent college graduates in Armenia the unique opportunity to participate in a six-month paid internship program with leading host organizations.

Easing the transition from college to the workforce, participants earn – for the first time – valuable on-the-job experience relevant to their education, as well as career development training, which boosts their chances of future employment.

Based on the promising results of the first Youth Career Trail class, over 50% of interns have since gained employment increasing their competitiveness in the labor market, while providing a tangible sense of professional empowerment. Since then, Youth Career Trail hosted a second class of interns, and the AGBU-UN SIG is helping to sponsor the third class of interns this August 2008.

Since 1994, uninterrupted economic growth has been registered in Armenia, however, economic recovery did not result in real expansion for employment.

Although sources indicate that there is a positive trend and unemployment is decreasing in recent years, it still remains the key social and economic problem in Armenia. In fact, similar to other transitional countries, young people in Armenia suffer markedly higher levels of unemployment.

Mitigating youth unemployment in Armenia, Youth Career Trail presents a life time opportunity for upwards of 60 unemployed graduates in their early to mid 20’s in Yerevan and the regions.

Within the framework of a UN Global Compact initiative, Youth Career Trail is a joint effort between UNDP, the private sector and non-governmental organanizations, such as AGBU.

For more information, please email kyacoubian@agbu.org.