Young people in the global South are seeking employment opportunities in challenging economic and
social environments. This paper provides an overview of current debates regarding youth employment,
highlighting conceptualisations of youth and (un)employment, emerging youth employment trends and the
nature of policies introduced to tackle youth (un)employment. It provides an overview of the six papers that
make up this special issue and shows how highlighting the complexities and diversities of youth employment
strategies in sub-Saharan Africa provides valuable lessons, both for enhancing current conceptualisations
and theorisation of youth employment and in terms of related policy instruments
