Here come the Futuremakers
Our Futuremakers initiative gives disadvantaged young people the opportunity to gain new skills and kickstart their careers
At Standard Chartered, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to learn, earn and grow. Globally, more than 200 million young people – often disproportionately impacted by the challenges of inequality – are out of work or live in low-income poverty, and that’s just not good enough.
So, we’re raising USD50 million by 2023 to tackle inequality and increase economic inclusion for young people across our markets.
With our Futuremakers by Standard Chartered initiative, we will be inviting disadvantaged young people – especially girls and the visually impaired – to gain new skills and expertise to improve their chances of getting a job or starting their own business.
Entrepreneurship and job creation are critical to the prosperity of individuals and communities. But a slowing global economy fraught with trade tensions and the socio-economic impact of globalisation, is making inclusive economic growth and employment much harder to achieve.
Developing economies, in particular, have a high percentage of unemployed or vulnerably employed young people as high as 66% in Africa who lack the right skills and opportunities to realise their ambitions.
In this challenging global reality, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8 to “achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030”, requires a concerted effort between governments, multi-lateral institutions and responsible corporations.
With Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, we will use our expertise as a bank and work through staff volunteering and local partners to help young people access jobs and economic opportunities.
By enabling young people to realise their full potential, we’re aiming to promote economic inclusion and drive commerce and prosperity in the communities where we do business.
Futuremakers builds on the success of our global Seeing is Believing (SiB) initiative to tackle avoidable blindness and visual impairment. Between 2003 and 2018, we reached more than 176 million people through SiB and raised more than USD100 million.