Voices of youth: Facing the global challenge on youth employment

A critical element of the current global jobs crisis is the struggle of young people to enter and remain in the labour market. For those who do have a job, the quality of jobs is often an issue. According to ILO estimates, of the total of 200 million people unemployed worldwide, 75 million, or around 40 percent, are young people. In many economies, young people are 2.8 times likely to be unemployed than adults but in Indonesia youth are 4.6 times more likely to be unemployed than their adult counterparts.

Press release | Jakarta, Indonesia | 26 March 2012

JAKARTA (ILO News): A critical element of the current global jobs crisis is the struggle of young people to enter and remain in the labour market. For those who do have a job, the quality of jobs is often an issue. According to ILO estimates, of the total of 200 million people unemployed worldwide, 75 million, or around 40 percent, are young people. In many economies, young people are 2.8 times likely to be unemployed than adults but in Indonesia youth are 4.6 times more likely to be unemployed than their adult counterparts.

In order to address these challenges, the Government of Indonesia with the support from the ILO has established the Indonesia Youth Employment Network (IYEN), involving senior policy-makers from different government agencies, the private sector and civil society.

To tackle challenges of youth employment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) will organize a one-day Youth Consultation Event titled “Voices of Youth: Facing the Global Challenge on Youth Employment” on Tuesday, 27 March 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Jakarta. The event is conducted in conjunction with the Youth Employment Month in March 2012. The event is also part of a series of events conducted by 50 countries all around the world.

Targeted at policy makers, practitioners and youth (entrepreneurs, students, etc), the event aims to strengthen cooperation on youth employment by establishing a platform for interaction among young people, policy-makers, workers and employers. The event also aims to identify and share good practices on youth employment as well as strengthen youth employment action and partnerships at the country level, both for Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

“Achieving decent work for youth is a challenge shared by all countries across the world, including Indonesia. This event plays an important role in renewing the commitment of stakeholders in addressing youth unemployment. The results of the event will also be used for the general discussion on the “Youth Employment Crisis” at the 101th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva this coming June 2012,” said Peter van Rooij, Director of the ILO in Indonesia.

Main concerns and aspirations of youth will be presented by the representatives of youth during the event. They will voice their concerns regarding challenges faced in education and training, entrepreneurship and apprenticeship. They will also voice their aspirations concerning better access to decent job opportunities and income.

The event will also discuss youth employment challenges at global and national levels. The general global challenges will be presented by Matthieu Cognac, ILO’s Youth Employment Specialist; while the national challenges faced by both Indonesia and Timor-Leste will be presented by Rahma Iryanti, Director of Employment and Job Opportunities of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and Alexandrina V. de Sousa Gama, Chief of the Self-Employment Development of the Secretary State for Vocational Training and Employment.

In addition, the event will examine various issues on youth employment, namely: providing a smooth transition from school to the world of work; preparing youth for work through support to vocational training; fostering youth entrepreneurship; and providing better access to decent and productive employment opportunities for youth through apprenticeship.

Participants of the event will come from governments, trade unions, the business community and employers’ organizations, academia, civil society and youth groups.

For further information please contact:

Tendy Gunawan
ILO’s Programme Coordinator and Enterprise Specialist
Tel: +6221 3913112 ext. 142
Email


Gita Lingga
Media Relations Officer
Tel : +6221 3913112 ext. 115
Email