Bridges to the Future: ASEAN Youth Employment (BTF: AYE) was an ASEAN Foundation initiative, implemented with Plan International, particularly Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (YPII), and supported by Google.org. Running from 2021 to 2022, the programme aimed to reduce youth unemployment by equipping vulnerable groups, especially young people in Indonesia and Viet Nam, with essential digital skills for the post-pandemic economy.

Centred on inclusive development, the programme delivered a series of digital literacy and job readiness trainings to empower young people, particularly women, persons with disabilities, and those from rural areas. It also provided mentorship, career counselling, and access to job-matching platforms, helping participants to transition from education to employment in a rapidly evolving labour market.

The initiative created spaces where youth could build not only technical competencies, but also critical soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, and adaptability. Through workshops, community-based outreach, and collaboration with local partners, Bridges to the Future fostered opportunities for economic resilience among disadvantaged youth across ASEAN.

By the end of the programme, the ASEAN Foundation’s BTF-AYE initiative in Viet Nam included job fairs, coaching classes, and virtual employment sessions, reaching over 9,100 people. Among the 2,313 direct participants, 51% were women and 25% were persons with disabilities (PWDs). The programme also facilitated employment for 421 underserved youth and PWDs. In June 2022, it launched the online job matching platform, www.ASEANJobs.org. Meanwhile, the BTF-AYE programme led by YPII reached 6,094 beneficiaries in Indonesia.