Resources on youth employment

Giving Indonesia’s new generation the skills and self-confidence to find decent work

15 May 2012

Indonesia’s new generation of young people are creative, connected, concerned and keen to succeed. But today, far too many can’t find decent jobs.
Giving young people the right skills for today’s jobs

15 May 2012

At a time when youth unemployment has reached alarming levels, governments are urgently seeking ways to tackle the crisis and defuse the potential time bomb of an increasingly disheartened and angry generation. Journalist Patrick Moser reports.
Arab youth aspiring to social justice and decent work

15 May 2012

In 2011, youth unemployment rates in the Arab region have reached a worrying average of more than 27.3 per cent. For young women, the average unemployment rate is even worse...
Giving an ancient craft a new shine: Training youth in the brassware sector in India

27 March 2012

Low levels of education, lack of skills, diplomas or certificates within a technical field severely limit the chances of gainful employment for a vast number of youth in India. A new programme of skills developing and training, however, is providing an alternative. Neelam Agnihotri, ILO communication officer in New Delhi, reports how this initiative is providing new jobs for youth in the centuries-old traditional brassware industry in Moradabad, northern India.
From the depths of an African shantytown, a nascent youth employment movement grows

14 December 2011

In Africa’s second largest slum, youth unemployment is sky high. But cooperative projects are helping youth find work and slowly lift themselves out of poverty through such projects as raising food in community gardens, processing waste for bio-fuel or providing improved sanitation. Journalist Anne Holmes reports on how this emerging economic revival is making a small but significant dent in a major ongoing challenge.
Cambodia's young people look for a brighter future

02 December 2011

Story of Yeth Chenda, 21-year-old Yeth CHenda recently found a job as a receptionist in a rural hotel in Kampot, Southern Cambodia, with the assistance of an International Labour Organization (ILO) job centre project
Decent work for Africa’s Youth

10 October 2011

Africa has the youngest population in the world: Young women and men represent the continent’s best hope for getting on a sustainable development path. However, youth unemployment rates are double adult unemployment rates for Africa as a whole – for North Africa they are even four times higher. ILO Online reports from Egypt where the ILO supports a pioneering project helping youth to find decent employment after leaving school.
Young Timorese beautician is a cut above the rest

29 July 2011

Eugenia de Jesus Cardoso now runs a successful beauty salon in her hometown, in Maliana, her hometown in Timore-Leste. She gained the business and specialist skills she needed during a training programme run by the Timore-Leste Government and the ILO’s Youth Employment Promotion (YEP) programme. By Matt Crook for the ILO Liaison Office for Timor-Leste
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and International Women’s Day: 100 years on

08 March 2011

The first International Women’s Day commemorated a demonstration by women workers in New York in 1857. But what established the modern celebration of International Women’s Day in history, was the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York on 25 March 1911 that killed 146 young women workers, most of whom were immigrants. From the ashes of that tragic event, the pursuit of social justice for women and men ignited that day continues be felt around the world 100 years on. From New York, ILO On-line reports on the fire that changed everything.
Youth join green jobs push in China

15 February 2011

Yang Shumbo, a Chinese electronic sciences student invented a device to save electricity. He developed this into a business under a pilot project of the Greener Business Option (GBO), an ILO Green Jobs Programme initiative. GBO aims to encourage entrepreneurship in green businesses among young people. Report from Chengdu, China, by Satoshi Sasaki, Specialist on Enterprise Development and Job Creation, ILO Beijing and Vincent Jugault, Senior Specialist in Environment and Decent Work, ILO Bangkok.