During the high-level event “NextGen Mission Lab: Building Youth Innovation Programme” at the 21st UNIDO General Conference, UNIDO announced its commitment to develop the Youth Innovation Programme, supporting young innovators in bringing early-stage prototypes to market under the UNIDO Youth Empowerment Framework 2026–2029.

At the evening Youth Reception, UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller exchanged a letter of intent with Arfan Ahmed Mohamed Nazar, Global President of AIESEC, the world’s largest youth-led organization. Together, the two organizations committed to advancing employability, skills development, entrepreneurship and youth inclusion in policy and industrial governance, key drivers of youth-led transformation toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Strategic Partnership Highlights

During the event, key partners shared their insights and commitments:

Ahella El Saban, Co-Founder of Exits MENA and CEO of Lumas, emphasized how youth can become investment-ready in vision, structure, and long-term sustainability.

Norah Magero, Co-Founder and CEO of Drop Access Limited and winner of the One World Sustainability Award shared her journey in leadership and resilience for female youth entrepreneurs.

Youth Innovation Challenge winners (Benedict Höfter and Rituparna Maji) presented their solution to provide AI literacy and disinformation resilience for youth in the Global South, seeking support to launch their first pilots.

Mohammed Aldughaim, General Manager of Innovation, Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia, outlined opportunities available through structured programmes.

Line Ulrika Christiansen, Head of Pop-up Schools, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction, showcased life-centered design courses for young professionals.

Kenneth Josué Gamboa Parrales, Director of Global Brand and Public Relations at AIESEC, reaffirmed support through initiatives such as the Youth Speak Initiative, promoting employability, skills development, and entrepreneurship.

These commitments contribute to the newly launched ScaleX Innovation Programmme, a global platform spanning the Western Balkans, East Africa, the South Caucasus, and the Caribbean/SIDS. Adnan Seric, Head of the UNIDO Innovation Lab, highlighted how UNIDO supports a new generation of industrial transformation through evidence-based approaches, cross-country learning, and measurable real-economy impact.

The Youth Day concluded with remarks from Kate Robertson, CEO of One Young World, emphasizing the importance of collaboration to accelerate social impact, drive youth empowerment and champion innovation for a more inclusive and sustainable future.

UNIDO extends its appreciation to its partners, CGI UK, NTT Data, GSMA, and Baiond for their support in enabling the participation of young people and the successful hosting of the event reception.