Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

Box 10.2 Youth Employment
About 85% of global youth live in developing
countries and while the population of most
continents is set to age, in the 21st Century
in Africa youth numbers will continue to
significantly expand. Across the world young
people are three times more likely to be
unemployed than other adults.
The world’s youth are therefore central to
tackle pressing global challenges. Young people
often lack access to productive employment
opportunities and resort to informal and
precarious jobs to avoid unemployment. Their
economic and social exclusion leads to growing
inequality, poverty and social instability. For
example, poor employment prospects for young
people were a key trigger of the Arab Spring. In
Côte d’Ivoire, it has facilitated the manipulation
of disillusioned youth by political elites, thus
promoting political instability. Young people
tend to be disproportionately concentrated
among the unemployed, but also overrepresented
in the lowest paid and more irregular employment
categories. The youth employment challenge
relates to both their exclusion from employment
(and the economic process more generally) and
the terms of inclusion in the labour market.
It is therefore crucial to adopt strategies that
promote the economic and social participation
of youth, and ensure their voices are heard.
This could entail investing in technical and
vocational education and training to address
skill mismatches and support demobilisation
programmes in the aftermath of armed conflicts
to strengthen social cohesion. Temporary
employment programmes (such as public works)
can provide income and skill development, as
well as a sense of purpose. Entrepreneurship
programmes can ensure that their talent and
energy are not squandered. However, generating
productive employment and enabling equitable
access to those opportunities requires a broad
range of policies beyond the traditional labour
market sphere. Coherent macroeconomic,
sectoral, labour market and social policies will
be vital to realise a vision of full-employment
and decent work for all.
A post-2015 framework could tackle the youth
employment challenge in several ways. For
instance, its importance could be acknowledged
through the inclusion of relevant targets and
monitoring indicators (or even a specific
goal). Alternatively, youth concerns could be
mainstreamed in different goals (by providing
age-disaggregated data), in order to highlight
existing inequities. As there are strong overlaps
with other areas (e.g. education), a framework
could be implicitly designed with these challenges
in mind. Finally, there could be strong statements
and commitments on the urgency of addressing
these challenges, linking them with a vision of
inclusive and sustainable development.
Sources: Oya et al., 2012; Mathiva, 2012; CIRES,
2013; van der Hoeven, 2012; OECD 2012
poSt-2015: Global actIon For an IncluSIvE anD SuStaInablE FuturE
Decent and
productive
employment is
at the centre of
economic, social
and political
transformations.
Employment
concerns are
particularly acute
for young people.
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