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Iberdrola and UNICEF today presented an innovative alliance with social impact aimed at contributing to the social and labor inclusion of young people and promoting the generation of training and employment opportunities, both in Spain and internationally. Iberdrola is contributing 3 million euros over the next three years to the alliance, which will be implemented together with other social entities. 

The challenges facing young people around the world today have prompted the two organizations to pool their knowledge, experience and innovative capacity to offer them training and employment opportunities in sectors related to the green economy, which have growth prospects.

These challenges facing young people around the world today are not minor. Some 270 million of the world's 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have no access to education, employment or training, and two-thirds of them are women. In addition, 75% of young workers work in the informal economy. 

"With this alliance we are responding to the challenge of generating employment opportunities for vulnerable young people in sectors of the future, such as clean energy, which will allow us to achieve a more sustainable and prosperous world for everyone," said Iberdrola's Executive Chairman, Ignacio Galán.

"Every young person must have the opportunity to develop personally, professionally and vitally, especially those who find it most difficult. This is the only way to make social progress sustainable and inclusive. Through this alliance, we will increase the options for these young people to progress and reach their full potential, joining forces with Iberdrola, whom we thank for their commitment," said the president of UNICEF Spain, Gustavo Suárez Pertierra.

Thus, young people will be the protagonists of the alliance by strengthening their empowerment and their personal and professional development while committing themselves to the changes that society and their communities need in terms of sustainability. These initiatives will be key to the economy, creating quality and skilled jobs

Scope of the international partnership

With this alliance, Iberdrola becomes a promoter of Generation Unlimited, a global initiative launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018 and led by UNICEF that seeks to connect millions of young people around the world with opportunities for training, empowerment, employment and social entrepreneurship. 

Within this framework, Iberdrola's alliance in favour of UNICEF will focus on Brazil, promoting the 1Million Opportunities (1MiO) programme, whose objective is the inclusion of vulnerable adolescents and young people in the country's labor market, strengthening their skills, job opportunities and green employment. Likewise, support will be given to the UPSHIFT innovation programme that UNICEF is implementing in Somalia, which seeks to train adolescents and young people who are victims of violence and at risk of exclusion in innovation and social entrepreneurship.

Furhermore, under the conviction that the social progress of young people will be linked to sustainable solutions and projects based on the energy transition, the alliance aims to encourage the commitment of young people to climate action. In this regard, Iberdrola will provide digital content on climate change and sustainability to 'Learning Passport', UNICEF's global learning platform that enables continuous access to quality education for children and young people around the world.

Scope of the national alliance

At the national level, Iberdrola will support the landing of Generation Unlimited global with 'Generation Unlimited España', a new multi-stakeholder alliance promoted by UNICEF Spain to promote the social and labor integration of adolescents and young people in highly vulnerable situations in our country.

This multi-stakeholder alliance will involve, in addition to Iberdrola, other actors from the private sector, the public sector and civil society, such as Comillas Pontificial University. Iberdrola is playing an active role in the design of innovative training models that offer young people market-oriented skills for the energy transition. These models are implemented in collaboration with social entities - Asociación Cesal, Federación de Plataformas Sociales Pinardi, Fundación San Juan del Castillo-Pueblos Unidos, Fundación Santa María la Real, Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Fundación Tomillo, Asociación Norte Joven - that work directly with young people, promoting the opportunities offered by the green economy. 

Also in Spain, the alliance between Iberdrola and UNICEF will promote training on climate change and sustainability in formal education, incorporating a children's rights and exchanging educational and training proposals with teachers.