What exclusion costs the nation: a youth reading of the evidence

Our first policy brief reads the evidence on exclusion from the point of view of the young people who live it. The conclusion is simple: exclusion is not only a social problem. It is an economic strategy failure.

The harms compound

42% of Malawian women have experienced intimate partner physical violence, against a global average of 27%. 64% of Malawian youth describe their living conditions as bad. Between 20 and 30% of young people are not in employment, education or training.

Gender-based violence costs Sub-Saharan African economies an estimated 1 to 3.7% of GDP a year. Survivors of sexual violence see a 6.6% fall in labour force participation and a 5.1% fall in wages.

What we recommend

Treat these harms together. The same young person faces violence, online abuse, climate shocks and joblessness at once. Programmes and budgets that treat each issue alone do not match real life.

Sources

UNICEF

Afrobarometer, 2025

World Bank estimates on the economic cost of GBV