Background and Development Challenges 

Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth so that they can accel­erate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership,  social innovation and entre­preneurship. By developing young people’s 21st-century skills, and by catalyzing and sustaining youth-led startups and social enterprises across the region, Youth Co:Lab is positioning young people front and center in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges. 

In Thailand, Youth Co:Lab was also first organized in 2017 by Thailand Social Innovation Platform under UNDP Thailand. We have enhanced the skills of 500+ youth on social entrepreneurship across Thailand and we have developed more than 80+ Social Innovation Incubator to enhance entrepreneurship ecosystem at the local level.

In addition to supporting youth entrepreneurship, Youth Co:Lab also works closely with multiple stakeholders to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem and to promote policies that will support and enable young people to take the lead in finding and developing new solutions for social and environmental problems in their communities.

With the significant roles and impacts of youth in defining both the present and future of Thailand, UNDP Thailand Youth Strategy aims to empower youth in Thailand and to unleash their full potential and become the positive change agents as well as sustain impact which requires support from civil society organization and private sectors to public sectors at all levels. Through three main strategies of Civic Engagement, Economic Empowerment, and Change Agents for SDGs and our approaches, UNDP Thailand benefits young people to be a beneficiary, a contributor, and an initiator. Strengthening Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship skills for youth in Thailand is an important work under UNDP Thailand Youth Strategy. Youth Co: Lab Thailand is a platform to empower youth in Thailand to create social impact and enhance livelihood through social innovation and social entrepreneurship, thus contributing to resolving existing social, economic and environmental challenges in Thai society.