UNDP Maldives Accelerator Lab

The UNDP Maldives Accelerator Lab is working on exclusions in the labor market, with a view to creating sustainable pathways to meaningful, productive and full employment for all.

The UNDP Maldives Accelerator Lab is part of the second wave of Accelerator Labs and was officially launched on March 15, 2021. 

The Lab continues to explore the barriers that prevent certain groups, including young people, women, persons with disabilities and other groups at risk of being left behind, from participating in the labor market. The Lab is applying ethnographic methodologies such as in-depth interviews, deep listening and user journey mapping to uncover leverage points that could be developed into sustainable pathways to ensure meaningful, productive, full employment for all. Currently, the Accelerator Lab is gearing up to implement an experiment that tests whether improvement in the soft skills of young people leads to an increase in their employability. Additionally, the Lab is also working with the Civil Service Commission of Maldives to explore and test pathways for creating formal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in civil service. The Accelerator Lab works closely with the Learning Cycle Advisory Committee (LCAC), which, through an open call, brings representatives from government, civil society and the private sector to work together.

The Lab’s efforts are well positioned to contribute to the work that the Country Office will be undertaking in partnership with the government to ensure inclusive, sustainable and thriving livelihoods in the Maldives.