The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that an estimated population of 255 million young people across the globe is unemployed.
The ILO director general Mr. Guy Ryder stated this in a speech at the opening of the ILO Global Youth Employment Forum in Abuja.
For young people, he said the priority is almost inevitably that of attaining a quality education and then the chance at a decent job.
“But there is an overall picture which really requires us to stop, to think and then to take action. Because the reality as captured in aggregated numbers is, I would say, a disturbing reality. Around the world 255 million and I will repeat the number 255 million young people are not in employment, nor are they in are the so-called Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET). Young women are three times more likely to figure amongst that number than are young men,” he said.
Ryder who is the first serving director general of ILO to visit Nigeria education or training also stated that even billions of youths who work live in poverty.
“And think of this. Another number. 176 billion young people are working, often working extremely hard, and yet they are still living in poverty. These are the working poor, and in Africa that is the status of 60 per cent of young workers, often concentrated in conditions of informality and in the rural economy.
“So we must ask ourselves, what is their future to be? Included in our labour markets, or excluded? A lost generation in formation. And young people typically are two to three times more likely to be unemployed than other adults. Even when they can find a place at work, it can often be in extremely difficult conditions. Conditions which fall short of the ILO’s ambition of decent work for all.
“So ladies and gentlemen, whether we like it or not, these are our global realities. And accept those realities besides the goals that the international community sets itself, when in 2015 it adopted the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said.
He said the ILO’s commitment to young workers gave rise to the first international labour standard that was adopted in 1919, which is for the protection of young workers, stressing that the organisation has tried to step up action in this regard.
He further said that in 2012, the ILO adopted its call for action on youth employment which basically sets out five areas of action.
“These five areas are firstly, pro-employment macroeconomic policies that enable job creation amongst youth. That means that youth unemployment is not only a matter from ministries of labour or youth, but also the central banks, the ministries of planning, the ministries of finance and industries. This is a whole of government’s responsibility.
“The second area is policy for and investment in education and skills. These are key so that the skills we provide young people with are those that our labour markets really need. And we talk frequently about the mismatch between the skills on offer and the skills that are needed. We need to do much better, and we need to make learning a lifelong process.
“The third area of action is active labour market policies. This can vary from employment service provisions, to wage subsidies, employment intensive investments, all of which can ease the transition of young people from education into employment. These are the policies that allow the integration of young people into the labour market.
“Fourthly, we have to promote youth entrepreneurship and self-employment to harness the extraordinary energy and talents of our young people.
“And lastly, but it is not the least consideration, we have to be aware of and respectful of the rights of young people. Because young people are workers like any other and their rights need to be promoted and respected in that regard,” he said.
