Friday, 29th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

UN chiefs endorse global initiative on decent jobs for youth

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
05 January 2016   |   3:21 am
THE United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) has endorsed the global initiative on decent jobs for youth, which aims to scale up action in support of youth employment. ILO Director-General Guy Ryder introduced the Initiative, sayin it represented an exemplary system-wide effort for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in…
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

THE United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) has endorsed the global initiative on decent jobs for youth, which aims to scale up action in support of youth employment.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder introduced the Initiative, sayin it represented an exemplary system-wide effort for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular of Goal 8 on “inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all,” and the other goals concerned with youth employment.

Under the ILO lead, the Initiative was developed by 19 entities of the United Nations that are committed to increase the impact of youth employment policies and expand country-level action on decent jobs for young women and men.

Currently, two out of five young people in the labour force are either unemployed or working but poor. Of the estimated 200 million unemployed people in 2014, about 37 per cent (or about 73 million) were between the ages of 15 and 24.

Ryder added: “The youth employment crisis represents a huge decent work deficit for societies worldwide and one of the main challenges of our time. Following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we have the unique opportunity to work together to scale up action on youth employment and tackle this crisis head on. The CEB’s endorsement will help mobilize the various arms of the UN system, and engage multiple partners so that – in the end – young women and men have greater access to decent jobs everywhere.”

More specifically, the Initiative proposes to: engage key stakeholders and world leaders in high-level policy action on youth employment; expand and scale up national and regional policies and interventions on youth employment; pool existing expertise and enhance knowledge on what works for youth employment; and
leverage resources from existing facilities while also mobilizing additional resources.

The Initiative is regarded as a template for assisting member states implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and an inspiration for broad collaboration and partnership among all key actors, including the social partners, youth organizations and the public and private sector. It will be guided by a series of principles such as the respect for human rights and the application of international labour standards, the promotion of gender equality and a multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral approach.

0 Comments