Summer Global Youth Forum 2021 - Youth at the forefront of achieving the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development
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Experts from many international, regional and national agencies generously share their views, experiences and findings on skills, helping policy-makers among other stakeholders to understand the linkages between education, training and the world of work, and how to integrate skills into national development planning to promote employment and economic growth.
Youth employability
Globally, nearly 68 million young women and men are looking for and available for work, and an estimated 123 million young people are working but living in poverty. The number who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) stands at 267 million, a majority of whom are young women. Significantly, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed.
Skills development is a primary means of enabling young people to make a smooth transition to work. A comprehensive approach is required to integrate young women and men in the labour market, including relevant and quality skills training, labour market information, career guidance and employment services, recognition of prior learning, incorporating entrepreneurship with training and effective skills forecasting. Improved basic education and core work skills are particularly important to enable youth to engage in lifelong learning as well as transition to the labour market.
Far from being mere beneficiaries of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, young people are recognized as having been among the architects in its development, and should continue to be engaged in the frameworks and processes that support its implementation, follow-up and review. With its disproportionate effects on young people, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities along already existing divides, and it now risks reducing the productive potential of an entire generation. As the Decade of Action calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to the world's biggest challenges, it is important to continue including youth in their design and implementation. As the training arm of the International Labour Organization, the ITCILO invites participants to the Summer 2021 edition of its Global Youth Forum - an experiential learning platform bringing youth at the forefront of efforts aimed at supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The three-week Global Youth Forum consists of 60 learning hours that combine different learning methodologies, including live webinars, breakout activities to boost discussion, interactive games, and a group project.
The Global Youth Forum will be mainly synchronous, meaning that participants will be expected to be online during specified hours throughout the Forum. The timetable will be shared with successful applicants shortly before the start of the Forum.
Learn more here.