Youth Employment - Translating Challenges into Opportunities

Hosted by Youth Employment Network

There are about 1.2 billion youth in the world aged 15 to 24. Nearly 75 million of them are looking for a job. Such a sizable demographic is an opportunity for growth but can also become a source of instability if youth unemployment and discouragement are not addressed.

Young men and women have been in the spotlight ever since the economic crisis revealed its hefty impact on youth employment. Stimulus packages, consultations, and private and public investments in youth programs have become the vogue. Despite the response to the crisis, the global rate of youth unemployment remained at 12.6 percent in 2012, unchanged from 2011 and one percentage point above the rate reported in 2007.

Some countries, like Spain, have in fact seen higher youth unemployment rates since the height of the economic crisis in 2009. Discouraged by the high statistics, many young people have given up their job search altogether or decided to postpone it and instead stay within the education system.

This workshop will present the global employment trends for young people in 2013, analyze the labor market situation with a specific focus on discouraged youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), and discuss policies and programs that can address the youth employment challenge. The workshop is hosted by the Youth Employment Network (YEN), an inter-agency program of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. It will be a highly interactive session to engage media representatives, policymakers, donors, and researchers in a discussion about youth employment.

Moderation:

Puerto-Gonzalez, Susana
Manager, Youth Employment Network, Geneva, Switzerland

Panelists:

Barsoum, Ghada
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy and Administration, The American University in Cairo, Egypt

Kluve, Prof. Jochen
Professor of Empirical Labor Economics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Mascherini, Massimiliano
Research Manager, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, Ireland

Complete workshop on soundcloud:
WS03 - Youth Employment - Translating Challenges into Opportunities