This category highlights the range of different themes through which banks do responsible work and this year we look at Citi’s efforts with youth in the region. Youth unemployment is already a serious problem in Asia and the pandemic made it a whole lot worse. Citi’s focus on the issue deserves recognition.
In September 2020, Citi Asia Pacific, under CEO Peter Babej, and the Citi Foundation announced a $35 million commitment in philanthropic investments to help young people in low-income and underserved communities in the region advance their economic opportunities. Alongside the philanthropic commitment, Citi said it would offer 6,000 jobs and 60,000 job skills training opportunities for young people at Citi Asia over the next three years.
In doing so, it was furthering a drive to help young people that is illustrated by the Youth Co:Lab programme that Citi leads alongside the United Nations Development Programme. This programme was scaled to 25 countries and territories in Asia Pacific in 2020. Already the programme has supported over 75,000 young participants through various national dialogues, regional summits and social innovation programmes; and over a thousand youth-led social enterprises have been launched or improved as a consequence.
The idea of the programme is to influence policy frameworks around youth innovation and entrepreneurship, in partnership with a large number of regional government agencies and private sector partners like CVC Capital Partners and LinkedIn; and to provide skills, mentoring and support to young social entrepreneurs.
Another example of Citi’s work in this area is the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, launched by the Citi Foundation in the Philippines in 2002 and now a widely recognized catalyst for Filipinos to escape poverty and become empowered business owners and community leaders. The central bank recently recognized the programme’s contribution. The foundation has committed a further $1.3 million to four programmes in South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and regionally in 2020 to confront challenges facing low-income communities.
Citi has also mobilized its workforce successfully for social good. Around 27,900 employees took part in the bank’s 2020 Community Day, helping communities impacted by Covid, donating food and cleaning items in India, and providing alternative modes of transport in the Philippines to help essential workers get to their jobs.
Like many others, Citi has made great strides environmentally and in diversity and inclusion as an employer in the region, which is most welcome. But the bank stood out this year for its recognition that this is a time to help youth.
