Gennaio-marzo 2012 - Link Campus University

68 globalizzazione link journal 1/2012
Why Youth?
Centrale tra gli argomenti della Conferenza sarà il lavoro e la disoccupazione giovanile
Jobs and the issue of Youth unemployment
One of the critical issues
on the agenda
for Rio+20 is jobs.
As member states start their
negotiations on the first two
sections of the zero draft-the
Major Group of Children
and Youth urge them not to
forget the growing crisis of
youth employment.
Youth unemployment differs substantially from adult unemployment
in both cause and solution. In 2010, an estimated
75.1 million young people in the world struggled to find work,
and youth were almost three times as likely as adults to be unemployed.
Tackling youth unemployment and underemployment
, by ensuring decent jobs will directly contribute to the
promotion of environmentally-sustainable growth and
poverty eradication. Hence, the youth bulge and associated
labour market conditions should be critical factors in the evaluation
of sustainable development policies, especially those
designed to increase green jobs. Meaningful youth participation
is paramount to design new programmes, and enhance
existing ones that are effective and work for young people
themselves. Young people should be involved as solid partners
in all stages when planning policy and programmes.
Tackling Youth Unemployment --Raising youth up in an economic
down-turn Job creation programs and policy frameworks
must mitigate the global economic downturn’s
disproportionate impact on youth. Long term analysis has
shown that part of the issue is a “transition” problem, with
young people needing time to accumulate the experience and
skills required to find good jobs . However, policy programs
-- such as tax breaks for youth-hiring employers, vocational
training programs, financial support for young entrepreneurs,
and micro finance -- can greatly increase youth participation
in the overall economy. Partnerships between the private sector,
governments and civil society organizations are needed
to improve the targeting of young workers, and the effective
deployment of capacity building programs. To promote job
growth, governments and the international community
should also implement financial and macroeconomic measures,
including bank and debt restructuring, and eliminate discriminatory
regulations. Policy frameworks must emphasize
the need for adequate labour market information, policy monitoring,
and program evaluation to help provide better jobs
for young people.
Some initial recommendations:
1. Including a Youth Guarantee in the social protection schemes, including
the UN sponsored Social Protection Floor Initiative
A Youth Guarantee will ensure that youth labour market inactivity
would not exceed a period of four months. Such a
policy measure will help young people keep in touch with the
labour market and keep updating their skills and competences,
and contributing to their employ-ability. A Youth Guarantees
will offer a more tailored approach in helping young people
deal with the structural failures of the labour market will
eventually build trust and confidence, and are more likely to
strengthen the labour market ties and participation rates for
the future. This should become a standard feature in social
protection schemes, especially when these are devised with
the assistance of the UN.
2. The creation of a Global Education Fund
In many countries, globalisation and technological changes
have created urgent demands for new forms of skill development
to meet economic and social needs. The promotion
of education for sustainable development, and the establishment
of training institutions, vocational programs for professional
development, as well as the recognition of non-formal
education are crucial.
A Global Education Fund must be co-managed by donors,
recipient countries, non-governmental organizations, and experienced
intergovernmental organisations such as UNESCO.
The fund must include an independent secretariat with effective
ownership of global education initiatives and ability to
manage its own funding.
3. Record and consider the impacts on youth of labour and macroeconomic
policies
Promoting labour-intensive sectors such as green jobs are key
to generating employment opportunities for young persons,
particularly in transition economies. Yet, governments cannot