Global Interactive Dialogue
At UN, Global Youth Sound Off on Employment
Young people talk to senior officials about global development, employment one week before the UN's 2013 International Youth Day.
On 5 August, young people from across the world had a unique opportunity to talk with senior United Nations officials about their concerns for future global development.
The “global interactive dialogue” was an all-day event that took place at the UN’s headquarters in New York. It addressed many of the issues facing young people today including climate change, government accountability and, of course, unemployment.
UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon had gathered the crowd to showcase various UN initiatives on youth issues, and said that more dialogue and greater inclusion of young people was needed in the organization’s activities.
“The message is clear,” the Secretary-General said. “You want more and better job opportunities, a good education, access to affordable quality health care, responsive and honest governments, and increased efforts to tackle climate change.”
Young people, who are largely seen as a driving force behind popular calls for change from the Arab World to Wall Street, make up a growing portion of the developing world’s population.
Globally, there are an estimated 73.4 million young people unemployed today representing an increase of 3.5 million since the start of the financial and economic crisis of 2007/2008.
The first-ever Special Envoy on Youth appointed by the Secretary-General in January 2013, Mr Ahmad Alhindawi, shared with the group some of the frustrations he witnessed. Mr Alhindawi, who is Jordanian, told the story of a young unemployed man named “Anas”.
“He is a graduate with a master’s degree. He is 25 years old, and he told me, ‘I am a morning person. I am an early bird. I wake up early every morning, and I dress up,’” Alhindawi recounted. “But he has nowhere to go.”
Stories like these, according to the ILO’s Special Adviser on Youth and Social Inclusion, Mr Charles Dan, are proof that greater attention and effort still need to be given to creating decent jobs for young people. Mr Dan took part in a discussion with the senior officials from other UN agencies, including UNFPA, UN Women and UNDP.
“We are facing a formidable challenge,” Mr Dan said. “Youth unemployment rates are soaring, and what we are asking ourselves now is, ‘Where are the jobs?’ At the ILO, our message is clear: economic policies must include employment creation as a major goal.”
In his statement, Mr Dan emphasized that new patterns of growth were needed that would include sector-specific strategies and encourage economic diversification of national economies and contribution of the financial sector to the real economy.
At the 2012 International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, participants launched a Call for Action to make addressing unemployment rates among youth a top priority. The resolution provides a menu of policy recommendations and calls for the mobilization of financial resources and the necessary political will to tack the youth employment crisis.
The “global interactive dialogue” was an all-day event that took place at the UN’s headquarters in New York. It addressed many of the issues facing young people today including climate change, government accountability and, of course, unemployment.
UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon had gathered the crowd to showcase various UN initiatives on youth issues, and said that more dialogue and greater inclusion of young people was needed in the organization’s activities.
 ILO Special Adviser on Youth and Social Inclusion, Charles Dan (far right) with others at the Global Interactive Dialogue (Photo: UN Photo/Mark Garten) |
Young people, who are largely seen as a driving force behind popular calls for change from the Arab World to Wall Street, make up a growing portion of the developing world’s population.
Globally, there are an estimated 73.4 million young people unemployed today representing an increase of 3.5 million since the start of the financial and economic crisis of 2007/2008.
The first-ever Special Envoy on Youth appointed by the Secretary-General in January 2013, Mr Ahmad Alhindawi, shared with the group some of the frustrations he witnessed. Mr Alhindawi, who is Jordanian, told the story of a young unemployed man named “Anas”.
“He is a graduate with a master’s degree. He is 25 years old, and he told me, ‘I am a morning person. I am an early bird. I wake up early every morning, and I dress up,’” Alhindawi recounted. “But he has nowhere to go.”
Stories like these, according to the ILO’s Special Adviser on Youth and Social Inclusion, Mr Charles Dan, are proof that greater attention and effort still need to be given to creating decent jobs for young people. Mr Dan took part in a discussion with the senior officials from other UN agencies, including UNFPA, UN Women and UNDP.
“We are facing a formidable challenge,” Mr Dan said. “Youth unemployment rates are soaring, and what we are asking ourselves now is, ‘Where are the jobs?’ At the ILO, our message is clear: economic policies must include employment creation as a major goal.”
In his statement, Mr Dan emphasized that new patterns of growth were needed that would include sector-specific strategies and encourage economic diversification of national economies and contribution of the financial sector to the real economy.
At the 2012 International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, participants launched a Call for Action to make addressing unemployment rates among youth a top priority. The resolution provides a menu of policy recommendations and calls for the mobilization of financial resources and the necessary political will to tack the youth employment crisis.