The Standard Chartered Foundation and UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU) have launched a three-year strategic partnership aimed at helping secure 1,500 decent jobs for young women in Nigeria and Kenya, with a focus on those aged 18-24 from underserved backgrounds.
The initiative, announced this week, is designed to bridge the gap between skills training and employment by drawing on UNICEF GenU’s global and local ecosystem of public-private partners that provide market-relevant training for youth. Selected participants will come from existing talent pools of young women who have completed GenU’s skilling programs.
Under the arrangement, UNICEF offices in Nigeria and Kenya will collaborate with local job placement experts to connect beneficiaries with opportunities in the private sector. The agency will also work with local government entities to identify job pathways tailored to the labour market needs in each country.
At the launch event in Lagos, Ayodeji Adelagun, Acting CEO of Standard Chartered Nigeria Limited, said the partnership reflects the bank’s commitment to expanding economic opportunities for young people. He noted that integrating UNICEF’s skilling ecosystem with the bank’s employability goals will establish a “sustainable empowerment framework” linking skills development to job placement.
Wafaa Saeed, UNICEF’s Representative in Nigeria, emphasised that young women already possess the necessary skills and drive, but require access to “real opportunities” in formal labour markets to transform their lives, support families, and contribute to community development.
The partnership builds on broader efforts by UNICEF GenU to support youth transitions from learning to work, as part of a global agenda to connect young people to employment, entrepreneurship and livelihood opportunities.
