International Day of Education 2026: Young people shaping their future hand-in-hand with Mécénat Servier
“The power of youth in co-creating education” is the theme UNESCO selected for the 2026 International Day of Education on January 24. To mark the occasion, Mécénat Servier Charity Fund is showcasing two particularly significant partnerships—Collectif de l’Ascenseur and Life Project 4 Youth.
We believe that the younger generations are essential in transmitting the values of commitment and solidarity that we uphold, which is why we have made education one of the cornerstones of our work. In France and around the world, we support grassroots organizations that create concrete opportunities for young people.
In France, #GénérationAscenseur is scaling up
Founded in 2019, le Collectif de l’Ascenseur is a coalition of nearly 100 organizations working to improve the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds or in difficult circumstances. For the past three years, he has been running #GénérationAscenseur program, a support scheme that offers some of these young people training, support, and opportunities to give them that “final push” to make their projects a reality and turn them into ambassadors for equal opportunities.
Partnered with Le Collectif de l’Ascenseur for the past year, we will be providing financial backing for the project over the next three years. Year one kicked off in September 2025 and has already included two days of work, two masterclasses, five training sessions, three immersions, and three inspirational meetups (Benjamin Blavier, Virginie Salmen, Cédric Klapisch).
The most significant new feature of the 2025-2026 cohort is the change in scale—instead of 25 students, there are now 42. This is also the first time that the program has welcomed students from outside of the Paris region. These advances have been made possible through a partnership with Mécénat Servier, which has taken on several areas of funding: human resources, supplies, training organization, communication, impact measurement, etc. Without this support, expanding the program would not have been possible, either in terms of size or the scope of activities on offer.
In addition to their individual journeys, the commitment of young participants is also reflected in their willingness to speak out and take on initiatives to promote and uphold equal opportunity. As such, they have become true ambassadors, echoing the theme of UNESCO’s 2026 International Day of Education on the power of youth.
Mathilde Boulay, General Delegate of Le Collectif de l’Ascenseur
Life Project 4 Youth is unlocking new horizons internationally
Thousands of miles away, we have been working with the Life Project 4 Youth (LP4Y) since 2021. This alliance promotes the professional and social inclusion of young adults living in extreme poverty and exclusion in 13 countries. Our multi-year partnership combines funding and skills-based sponsorship, with participation from local Servier teams in a range of activities, including mock interviews, company workplace visits, and internships.
In Indonesia, Mécénat Servier played a role in the renovation of the Jakarta center, which opened in 2016. The work, completed at the end of 2024 and inaugurated in January 2025, included raising the center’s floor to prevent flooding, thanks to the financial support and commitment of Servier’s teams in Jakarta. Mécénat Servier’s support also enabled the launch of the AccelerAction project, which has helped more than 44 young people, resulting in over 75 % integration into the workforce or higher education.
In Egypt, the first LP4Y center dedicated to supporting vulnerable young women opened in October 2024. Forty young women were enrolled in the program and 15 of them have already found gainful employment. Our colleagues at Servier Egypt carried out a number of initiatives designed to introduce the young women to the professional world, including 13 mock interviews.
Mécénat Servier provides invaluable structural support to LP4Y. It drives the ongoing development and improvement of our innovative solutions for the social and professional inclusion of young people. The active involvement of Servier’s teams in turn creates new opportunities for the young people we work with through contacts and networks they would not otherwise be able to access.
We also strive to ensure that the young adults themselves are masters of their own life paths. Over the past 16 years, LP4Y’s initiatives have been developed with them and for them. They are not just beneficiaries; they are involved in designing, improving, and evaluating initiatives, and they spearhead efforts in their communities. With this in mind, we fully embrace the theme of the 2026 International Day of Education.
Emma Vandenbrouck, LP4Y Partnerships and Fundraising Coordinator
In France and abroad, these two partnerships reflect the shared ambition of empowering young people to take action, plan for the future, and shape their own journeys. Through our support for such programs, we demonstrate our commitment to education and equal opportunity.
