Youth-Led Initiatives/Enterprises Access to Funding – Sustaining Jobs in the CCI Sector Dissemination Workshop
20 NOV 2025 - 28 NOV 2025
The question of whether youth-led initiatives in South Africa contribute to sustainable development is a multiplex and multi-layered one. Youth-led initiatives in the South African CCI’s have the potential to drive sustainable development as these industries involve a range of economic activities, including the production and distribution of artistic and cultural goods and services, and can serve as strategic platforms for economic diversification, job creation, and social transformation. However, despite youth having access to these initiatives they continue to face a unique set of challenges that can impact their long-term viability. As noted in the focus group, young people in South Africa continue to experience marginalisation and limited access to opportunities, due in part to the country's history of apartheid and a general lack of understanding what these young people need within the sector. For these initiatives and support to recognise their full potential, a sector inclusive framework would have to be developed which will focus on enhancing the personal capacity, agency, and skills development of youth with disabilities, empowering families to support and inform sustainable change, and effecting structural changes to ensure the accessibility of public spaces and places of social interaction
