GENEVA - When the leaders of the G8 gather for a summit in Scotland on 6-8 July, they will also discuss world poverty, particularly in Africa, and urgent action to address the continent's difficulties.
This focus on Africa has a common root - the Millennium Declaration, a series of commitments that aim to tackle global poverty and its causes, made by the largest meeting of Heads of State and Government in human history. Since the 2000 UN Millennium Summit, it has been clear that aid alone was not going to resolve the situation for those struggling to survive in Africa and elsewhere, and a review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) this year revealed that Africa looked likely to fall far short of fulfilling its targets. It has also become starkly clear that development and collective security are inextricably linked.
For the partners of the Youth Employment Network (YEN), under the leadership of the Geneva-based International Labour Office, employment is a first and crucial rung on the ladder out of poverty. And the Millennium goal of decent and productive work for young people provides the international community its best shot at success in the MDG fight against poverty.
"Getting the next generation off to the right start is a vital social goal for us all", Mr. Plaskitt told the ILO's annual conference. He also noted that increasing recognition of the critical importance of youth employment in reports from both the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, and the Commission for Africa, an independent commission chaired by Tony Blair.
Among recommendations in the Commission for Africa's report "Our Common Interest" was to provide financial resources to expand the work of the United Nations Secretary General's Youth Employment Network (YEN) to 25 sub-Saharan African countries.
With the announcement of the UK, a total of fourteen countries have stepped forward since 2001 to volunteer as lead countries for the YEN: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Syria.
A total of 37 countries from all regions of the globe have prepared or reported on plans to prepare a National Action Plan on youth employment with many others on the way. The UN Secretary-General will provide a global analysis and evaluation on these reports and of the YEN's activities when the General Assembly meets in October to undertake a ten-year review of the World Programme of Action on Youth.
The ILO hosts the permanent Secretariat of the Youth Employment Network (YEN), a joint United Nations (UN)-ILO-World Bank initiative that was established in 2001 by the UN Secretary-General.
Announcing that the UK was joining YEN, the first western industrialized nation to do so, the minister said it could act as a framework enabling the UK to exchange experiences with other countries, and to learn from them. "We hope that others will consider joining so that we can make progress at the speed dictated by the changes now taking place in all our societies."
The UK has had considerable success in bringing down the youth unemployment rate over the past decade, from 17.4 per cent in 1993 to 10.9 per cent in 2004. According to the minister, this was achieved through a combination of macroeconomic stability and a new approach to welfare.
"An essential part of our labour market policy is having education, skills and training policies in place aimed at creating an adaptable, flexible and productive workforce. We also recognise the need to ensure that regulation does not deter the creation of jobs and in particular we want to encourage entrepreneurship."
A report ( Note 1) on youth employment discussed at the International Labour Conference this year, warns that prolonged unemployment in early life may permanently impair employability, earnings and access to quality jobs. Furthermore it warns that patterns of behaviour and attitudes established at an early stage persist later in life.
A lack of work in 15-24 year olds affects society at all levels: governments lose investments in education and training, and suffer from a reduced taxation base and higher social welfare costs; additionally voter support among young people is weakened. For employers' organizations, youth unemployment and underemployment means that young people have less to spend on products and services, and personal savings are reduced for business investment, resulting in loss of production. For workers' organizations, youth unemployment means loss of potential membership to secure improved rights, protection and working conditions.
Worse still, high and rising unemployment levels among youth may be a source of social instability, increased drug abuse and crime, and youth unemployment and poor jobs contribute to high levels of poverty.
As it prepares to head two of the most influential global groupings - the G8 and the EU, the UK's support to the YEN may provide hope for the future for almost one quarter of the world's population - the 1.1 billion 15-24 year olds who live in extreme poverty. Ensuring that youth employment issues are on the agenda of these groupings will, hopefully, increase funding and support for national efforts to improve the employment situation for young men and women in some of the poorest countries.
While politicians strike their deals in secure locations, out on the streets of Edinburgh and elsewhere this July, vocal support and solidarity for the world's poorest will be on hand as hundreds of organisations gather to ensure that social justice prevails. Both sides of the equation will be echoing the ILO's own Philadelphia Declaration which states "Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere".
Note 1 - See Youth: Pathways to decent work, report VI, International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, Geneva 2005.