Impact sourcing at scale 'moving from idea to practice'

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To harness this demographic dividend, a collaborative approach to job creation between the private and the public sector will need greater establishment. Additionally, there have been transformative developments particularly in Africa's information communication technology sectors, creating new industries that have the potential for significant job creation.

The Rockefeller Foundation through its initiative, Digital Jobs Africa, has partnered with key stakeholders in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector to drive and accelerate Impact Sourcing. Impact Sourcing is the socially responsible arm of the business process and information technology outsourcing industry that employs individuals who would otherwise not have an opportunity for sustainable employment.

The growth of the digital service sector and the BPO sector in Africa provides an unprecedented chance to create more employment opportunities than ever before for thousands of young people. The Foundation believes there is incredible promise in the growth of impact sourcing as a way to train, employ and sustain a disadvantaged youth population that would otherwise be trapped in a cycle of unemployment and poverty.

The Rockefeller Foundation and key government and industry stakeholders recently gathered to showcased the business case for Impact Sourcing, thereby catalyzing more jobs for youth in the BPO sector, as well as exploring the positive benefits that Impact sourcing has had on the lives of young people throughout Africa.

Impact Sourcing at Scale: Moving from Ideas to Practice Conference 2014 brought together delegates from government, partner organisations and grantees to learn, debate, and build networks aimed at growing impact sourcing as a way of tackling youth employment.