SecretaryGenerals Youth Employment Network

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Some youth statistics

• More than 1 billion people today are between 15
  and 25 years of age
  
• Nearly 40 of the worlds population is below
  the age of 20
  
• 85 of young people live in developing
  countries
  
• Around 60 of young people live in Asia alone, or
  over 650 million persons

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Youth employment statistics

• 88 million youth - 47 of the global total of 186
  million - are classified as unemployed
  
• Youth are two to three times more likely to be
  unemployed than adults
  
• 59 million young people (15-17 years old) are
  engaged in hazardous work
  
• Sub-Saharan Africa youngest population, highest
  levels of youth unemployment, 60 80 in many
  countries. Employment question is essentially a
  youth employment question
• Many more are underemployed, working long hours
  with little income in the informal economy

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Secretary-Generals Youth Employment Network

• A commitment of the Millennium Declaration
  Develop and implement strategies that give young
  people everywhere a real chance to find decent
  and productive work
• Led by the heads of the UN, the World Bank and
  the ILO
  
• UN General Assembly Resolutions A/RES/57/165 and
  A/RES/58/133 relating to Youth Employment

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A political commitment

• Resolutions ask countries to develop National
  Action Plans (NAPs) on youth employment by
  September 2004.
  
• Development and implimentation should be in
  partnership with the ILO, WB and UN , abd with
  the specific involvement of young people.
  

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Lead Countries

• Nine countries have stepped forward to volunteer
  as lead countries for the YEN
  
• Senegal, Namibia, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Indonesia,
  Rwanda, Azerbaijan, Brazil and Iran
  
• Interest from many others including Mali and
  Nigeria

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YEN High-Level Panels 2003 Recommendations

• - Employability invest in education and
  vocational
  
• training for young people and improve the
  impact of
  
• those investments
• - Equal opportunities give young women the same
• opportunities as young men
• - Entrepreneurship make it easier to start and
  run
  
• enterprises to provide more and better jobs for
  young
  
• women and men
• - Employment creation place employment creation
  at the center of macroeconomic policy

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• Youth Participation
• and the YEN

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Youth are an Asset - not a Problem

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Normally when we need to know about something w
e go to the experts, but we tend to forget that
when we want to know about youth and what they
feel and what they want, that we should talk to
them
From commitments..
The youth around this table are a tremendous re
source. Engage them. Listen. Build together.
Let's get beyond lip service.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia
Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Managing Director, The
World Bank

YEN High-Level Panel meeting July 2003, Geneva

Young people should be seen as engines of growth
rather than a problems to be addressed
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To participation
World Bank President , James Wolfhensohn in
discussion with Youth Leaders at the World Banks
Youth Development and Peace consultation. Paris
September 2003

13 youth representatives attend the July 2003
meeting of the YEN High-Level Panel , giving them
partiy with the YENs High-Level Panel.

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To partnership

• High-Level Panel Recommendations 2001
• Importance of youth
• Youth are an Asset - not a Problem
• Youth are partners of today - not tomorrow
• High-Level Panel Recommendations 2003
• Invite to youth organisations to participate in
  the design,
  
• implementation and monitoring of NAPs
• Asked youth to take on an advisory role for the
  YEN in relation to appropriate and effective
  youth employment programmes.
  
• Asked youth to present a Youth Platform on youth
  involvement in the YEN
  

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Current developments

• 1. YEN Youth Consultative Group (YCG)
• 2. Lead Country activities

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1. YEN Youth Consultative Group (YCG)

• The YCG will
• Represent the concerns of young people on the
  function, direction and priorities of the YEN
  
• Interact with the High Level Panelists and input
  into the decision making of the YEN.
  
• Support youth groups in Lead Countries to
  mobilise themselves to particpate in the NAP
  process
  
• Support youth groups in other countries to lobby
  governments
  

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Youth Partners

• Workers and Employers youth branches
• Regional Youth Platforms
• International Youth Organisations
• Youth Branches of the political internationals
• Students organisations
• Local and grassroots organisations and
  individuals
  

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2. Lead Country activities
Azerbaijan A grouping of NGOs and other civil so
ciety organizations, formed a National Coalition
on Youth Employment in June 2004, which will work
closely with the Government to develop the
countries NAP.
Indonesia Youth organisations have helped the I-Y
EN Indonesian Youth Employment Network
co-ordinate a series of national consultations
with youth. There views have been fed into the
drafting of the Indonesian NAP
Brazil Youth voice their hopes and concerns, at a
special seminar on youth employment, organized
by the Government of Brazil with the support of
the ILO, hed in Salvador, Brazil, September 2003.
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Dates of YEN and youth partner activities 2004
World Youth Festival, 8 - 14 August, Barcelona,
Spain World Bank Youth Consultations, September,
Sarajevo, Bosnia YEN High-Level Panel, September,
Washington DC, U.S.A Youth Employment Summit, Oc
tober, Mexico Youth Business International Summit
, October, Buenos Airies, Argentina
Malente Symposium Youth Employment, Empowerment
and Participation, 18-20 October, Lubeck,
Germany,
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The Bigger Picture..

UN, ILO, WB commitment to 3 year work plan and
fund raising Knowledge Development (inventories,
stocktaking, good practices, data needs,
innovative research) Supporting Lead Countries in
development of national action plans
Country pilots Ideal Youth involvement 1. Nati
onal coalitions on Youth Employment created by
Sept. 2004 2. Recognised youth input into NAP pla
ns submitted to the UN Sept. 2004
3. Formal role of youth in a recognised in
structures created to implement and review NAPs
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Nairobi Meeting Aims

Raise awareness of the importance of youth
employment as central development issue.
Empower and mobilise youth to motive governments
and other stakeholders for action on youth
employment and in the development of NAPs.
Record suggestions regarding effective strategies
for mobilisation youth. Collect information, advi
ce, best practices from youth on participation
for potential toolbook on youth and NAPs.
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Contact details
Justin Sykes Communicatons and Public
Information Officer The Youth Employment Network
(YEN) International Labour Office CH-1211 Geneva
22, Switzerland Tel [phone] Fax
41 (0)22 799.7978 Email sykes_at_ilo.org
http//www.ilo.org/yen