Microsoft in Support of UNICEF USA
Microsoft and UNICEF are partnering in pursuit of ensuring every young person is in expanded education, training, or employment.
Microsoft and UNICEF are committed to finding new ways to prepare young people, particularly those in vulnerable situations, for a rapidly evolving world in which education and skills can make a critical difference in their lives. Our partnership demonstrates how leveraging knowledge, data, digital solutions and innovations can transform the lives of young people and get them ready for the future of work in an AI-powered economy.
Supporting Youth Skilling in a Rapidly Evolving World
Since 2021, Microsoft has supported Passport to Earning (P2E), a global program of UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited (GenU), to help address the rising challenge that young people around the world are being left behind due to a lack of access to skills training and opportunities. P2E leverages a digital platform to bridge this gap by providing young people, ages 15-24, with free, world-class and job-relevant skills training and positioning them for employment opportunities in a rapidly evolving economy. In September 2024, Microsoft renewed their commitment to P2E, in continued support of the program’s mission to create better education, skills, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young people worldwide. This next phase of the partnership will include a focus on integration of an AI-skills curriculum in P2E content offerings.
In its first year, thanks to support from Microsoft and other partners, Passport to Earning reached a one-million certified learners milestone in India. To date, the program has certified over 2 million youth in India and beyond with digital, financial and employability skills, including 15-year-old Muskaan, who has since become a symbol of hope and change in her native Chakla village.
Muskaan eagerly enrolled in P2E, after first being introduced to financial and digital literacy concepts by a program representative at her local coaching center, and developed critical knowledge and skills regarding loans, interest rates, savings, budgeting, and investments. It did not take long for Muskaan to realize that she could help empower her local community with her newfound skills, which led to her discovering a passion for teaching. While she faced some initial resistance from her friends and family, Muskaan ultimately earned the respect and recognition of others upon completing the P2E program and was entrusted with teaching her friends and community about financial literacy – she is now helping break down cycles of poverty in her village and ensuring a brighter future for the next generation.
“Whatever learnings I have gained in the P2E program, these are life skills for me and have changed my perception a lot. My peers, family, and my community are also benefiting from the learning which I have shared with them. Hence, I will continue my work even after the P2E program.” --Muskaan, 15
In May 2024, Passport to Earning earned a Silver in the “Best of Technology for Good Initiative” category at Engage for Good’s Halo Awards, further spotlighting the impact of the innovative Microsoft and UNICEF partnership.
Partnership History: Supporting UNICEF Since 2018
The Microsoft and UNICEF partnership began in 2018, with the launch of the groundbreaking digital education initiative, the Learning Passport (LP), powered by Microsoft Community Training. While originally designed to support children on the move who were displaced due to conflict and climate disasters, the LP became a critical learning platform for children out of school due to COVID-19 and has since served as a high quality, highly flexible online and offline learning solution to help close the learning poverty gap for the most vulnerable children across the globe. To date, the LP has provided over 9 million children and young people in 45 countries with access to quality and inclusive education to help bridge the digital divide.
Throughout the years, the partnership has also harnessed the power of Microsoft employees’ passion for supporting humanitarian work, helping raise critical funding via workplace giving for UNICEF’s emergency response across the globe.
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