Joop Theunissen

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

• The challenge of youth employment
• Action for youth employment the Youth
  Employment Network

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The Challenge of Youth Employment
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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

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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.

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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.)
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Education in developing countries
Reach Grade 5 Enrolment in secondary school, M-F Adult literacy rate, M-F
Sub-Saharan Africa 61 26-22 69-54
Middle East / North Africa 91 67-62 75-54
South Asia 59 57-40 66-40
World average 77 66-61 85-74
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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

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An educational achievement league of 24 rich
countries
The Top 5 The Top 5 Other countries Other countries
1 Republic of Korea 1.4 12 France 12.6
2 Japan 2.2 18 USA 16.2
3 Finland 4.4 19 Germany 17.0
4 Canada 5.0 21 Spain 18.6
5 Australia 6.2 22 Italy 20.2
The table shows average ranks of all five
measures. Source UNICEF Innocenti Report Card
No 4, November 2002.
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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 -gt what will
  they be in 10 years?
• (Importance of MDGs)
• More unemployed young people in urban areas with
  little hope for decent work
• Globalization gt increased competition between
  young people in more countries?

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2. The Youth Employment Network (YEN)
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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

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YENs 4 Es to address youth unemployment

1. Employability investing in education
2. Equal opportunities for men and women
3. Entrepreneurship start and run businesses
4. Employment creation as part of macroeconomic
   policy

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Whats next

• National action plans for youth employment by
  March 2004
• 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

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Unemployment is the problem.
Youth are the solution.
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Thank you! www.ilo.org/yen