UNDP Bhutan

Systems Approach to Youth Unemployment in Bhutan

2020–

Partners
UNDP Bhutan
UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub

Bhutan, a country of 760,000 people and the only carbon-negative country in the world, faces unique challenges in designing a viable and sustainable employment market for its large youth population. With half of the population under the age of 27, and major industries such as tourism heavily hit by COVID19, the scale of challenge is growing.

Moving away from the conventional diagnosis of youth unemployment as a simple ‘supply-demand’ problem, or a narrow focus on individual factors, Dark Matter Labs partnered with UNDP Bhutan to create a series of system maps and visualisations of unique experiments, demonstrating a systems approach to the unemployment issue. The maps were further developed and validated through workshops with policymakers, industry professionals, and youth groups.

By curating a new perspective of the youth employment ecosystem and unpacking the dynamics that shape the context of the future of work in Bhutan, Systems Approach to Youth Unemployment in Bhutan will continually serve as a tool for public engagement and collective sensemaking.