Bringing Youth Perspectives into the Business of Connectivity

The Bringing Youth Perspectives into the Business of Connectivity report supports members of the mobile operator community who are beginning their journey in youth engagement. It highlights good practices and sets clear expectations for successfully delivering youth participation initiatives. The report also features case studies and practical tips for involving young people, based on insights gathered from youth and child rights specialists during a Youth Participation co-creation workshop hosted by the GSMA.

For nearly two decades, the GSMA has collaborated with its mobile operator members to protect and promote young people’s rights in the digital environment. Together with the mobile operator community and external partners—such as UNICEF—we have developed tools to enhance online safety, issued guidance on working with child helplines and internet reporting hotlines, and provided actionable steps mobile operators can take to reduce digital risks while maximising the many opportunities that connectivity offers. Bringing youth perspectives into the business of connectivity helps mobile operators to better serve young people and reflect the needs and priorities.

There are several ways in which mobile operators can benefit from the perspectives and recommendations of children and young people. Mobile operators are:

• Corporates, whose policies – as employers, corporate citizens, and providers of products and services – have wide-ranging implications for children and young people;

• In the business of connectivity, in an era where young people spend a significant amount of time in the digital environment, form communities and raise their voices on matters of importance to them, in ways that have not been available to previous generations;

• The future employers of current children, and the employers of today’s young professionals – and they want to attract and retain the brightest talent.