The Skoll Foundation announced today that Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has received the 2019 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jeff Skoll, this prestigious award recognises change agents whose innovations have had significant, proven impact on the world’s most pressing problems. It is a select honour that has only been given to about 100 organisations globally since its inception. This news comes ahead of the Skoll World Forum being held next week in Oxford, England.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated the team at Harambee, saying “We are proud of the work Harambee and its partners have done to build solutions that address our youth unemployment challenge. The Skoll Award recognises that Harambee’s innovative model to pathway young people is leading-edge and an African solution to one of the world’s most pressing problems.”

Harambee CEO Maryana Iskander added, “We have worked with the private sector and government to deliver results that are changing individual lives and also changing systems. We share this recognition with our community of partners, and also with Harambee’s network of 500,000 work-seekers who teach us every day what more is needed to solve youth unemployment.”

Harambee has partnered with over 500 African businesses to provide more than 100,000 jobs and work experiences to unemployed youth in South Africa and Rwanda. It has done this through innovative initiatives to grow new jobs, an award-winning Pathway Manager adopted at South Africa’s Presidential Jobs Summit, and a social impact bond to drive inclusive hiring.

Harambee founder Nicola Galombik, said, “Yellowwoods and its businesses are proud to have incubated Harambee as a catalyst for significant change. National Treasury’s Jobs Fund, our founding overnment partner, then enabled us to scale up the model. And we are excited by what the Skoll Award means for Harambee’s future growth and impact.”