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The Challenge of Youth Employment: Action for a Better Future

This presentation discusses the importance of addressing youth unemployment and presents the Youth Employment Network's approach to tackle this issue. It highlights the vulnerability and long-term impacts of youth unemployment and emphasizes the need for equal opportunities, entrepreneurship, employability, and employment creation. The presentation also sheds light on the current global situation regarding youth employment and the educational inequalities faced by young people. With over a billion young people in need of jobs every 10 years, the Youth Employment Network aims to mobilize resources, promote youth participation, and link youth employment with education for a brighter future.

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The Challenge of Youth Employment: Action for a Better Future

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  1. Joop Theunissen Focal Point on Youth UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

  2. This presentation • The challenge of youth employment • Action for youth employment: the Youth Employment Network

  3. The Challenge of Youth Employment

  4. Why is YE so important? • Youth is a period of transition and vulnerability • Vulnerability appears to increase with globalization and increased competition, everywhere • Long periods of unemployment have a lasting impact on youth: • Individual level: self-esteem, respect, sense of achievement • Societal: integration, cohesiveness, citizenship

  5. The Present • 88 million young people out of work • 59 million kids (17-19) in hazardous work • Youth are 41 percent of all unemployed • Youth unemployment 2-3 times higher than average unemployment Source: ILO Key Indicators of the Labour Market, www.ilo.org/kilm. Figures for 2004.

  6. The Best-Educated Generation Ever!* Yet… still large differences globally: • 130 million children not in school • 133 million youth are illiterate • Large gender differences • Large differences between groups of countries *(And healthiest ever too.)

  7. Education in developing countries

  8. Educational inequalities in developed countries We can measure and compare the educational “baggage” of young people: • Reading literacy of 15 year-olds • Math literacy of 15 year-olds • Science literacy of 15 year-olds • Math achievement of 8th graders • Science achievement of 8th graders

  9. An educational achievement league of 24 rich countries The table shows average ranks of all five measures. Source: UNICEF Innocenti Report Card No 4, November 2002.

  10. The Future • Over 1 billion young people in need of jobs every 10 years = 100 million jobs a year • 130 million kids not in school now -> what will they be in 10 years? (Importance of MDGs) • More unemployed young people in urban areas with little hope for decent work • Globalization –> increased competition between young people in more countries?

  11. 2. The Youth Employment Network (YEN)

  12. A little history • Millennium Report of the Secretary-General, 2000: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) • Goal 8. Developing global partnerships for development, including a network to address decent and productive work for young people • A high-level panel of advisers to the Secretary-General with support of three organizations: World Bank, ILO and UN

  13. YEN’s 4 E’s to address youth unemployment • Employability – investing in education • Equal opportunities – for men and women • Entrepreneurship – start and run businesses • Employment creation – as part of macroeconomic policy

  14. The First E. Employability • Definition: a key outcome of education and training to instill skills, knowledge and competencies of workers • Reality: high cost of investment, skills mismatch • Invest in life skills, life-long learning, ICT, entrepreneurship, SSEs in and out of school

  15. The Second E. Equal opportunities for young men and women • Before school: equal access and entry for boys and girls • In school: “tracking” out of TVE, career guidance, double burdens, cultural barriers, gender stereotyping, harassment • After school: credit access, lower skills • In the job: discrimination in pay, training, promotion

  16. The Third E. Entrepreneurship • Cultural attitudes: negative perceptions of entrepreneurship, corruption, social entrepreneurship • Education: a system that stimulates entrepreneurial spirit, teachers’ training • Skills training: career training, ICT • Business support: skills and services to run your own firm • Regulation: taxes, laws and burocracy • Finance: youth as risky investments

  17. The Fouth E. Employment creation • Yes, it is the economy that creates jobs! • Labour market policies • Macro-economic policies • Exchange rate policies • Sectoral policies • External economic shocks, disasters and wars • Institutional support for youth employment: governance, national employment strategy, monitoring

  18. What’s next: • National action plans for youth employment • Mobilizing financial resources for youth employment • Linking youth employment with education • Expanding on youth participation in policy and action: “No decision making without youth participating”

  19. Unemployment is the problem. Youth are the solution.

  20. Thank you! www.ilo.org/yen

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