H.E. Mrs. Ladawan Wongsriwong, Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Welfare, Royal Government of Thailand
Mr. Takashi Saito, Minister, Embassy of Japan in Thailand
Mr. Kazushi Nishida, Deputy Director, International Division, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Government of Japan
Distinguished Guests and Participants, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning – and a warm welcome. It is a pleasure and a privilege to have you with us this morning. At the outset, please allow me to record our thanks to the Government of Japan for supporting this meeting, and to HE Khun Ladawan, for delivering an inaugural address. I would also like to acknowledge the time and effort that all those involved have committed to preparatory work for this meeting. It is a wise investment. And it is desperately needed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Youth employment is of enormous concern to the ILO. Your presence here today demonstrates that we are not alone. And so do the actions and the words of leading figures on the global stage. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has made this issue a particular cause. As you know, he has joined forces with the ILO Director-General Juan Somavia and the World Bank President James Wolfensohn to launch a high level policy network on youth employment. That network is drawing on the most creative leaders in private industry, civil society and economic policy. It is a high quality network. That is encouraging – because it must tackle a vast problem.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Youth employment, or rather the lack of it, is a huge problem. Worldwide, 66 million young people are openly unemployed. Many millions more are underemployed. Projections point to alarming increases in both figures over the next decade. And our figures may well be conservative. A variety of factors make it difficult to gather an accurate statistical picture.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The ILO’s raison d’etre is decent work. Our primary goal is ensuring that women and men have access to opportunities for decent work, in conditions of freedom, security, equity and human dignity. That is quite a formal description. In less formal terms – it is very simple. It means people can feel confident that they can meet their own basic needs and those of their families. It means being able to afford food, housing, clothing and medical care. It means being able to send children to school and not to work; and it means being able to build up some degree of security against hardship and old age. These are reasonable expectations, for individuals, for families, and for communities. Decent work creates this framework for society. The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan observed at the ILO’s Global Employment Forum in November that freely chosen, productive employment was "the very foundation on which social stability rests". And yet, in the world today, decent work is in alarmingly short supply. For young people, the shortage is chronic. Young people make up some 40 per cent of the world’s unemployed. Unemployment early in life leaves lasting scars. It seriously damages people’s employment prospects for later life. At its worst, it leads to a circle of despair and poverty.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We very often hear that our youth are our future. Then, let us take a look at that future – let us take a look at the situation our young people face. Our future is shouldering the burden of 40 per cent of the world’s unemployment. Our future is weighed down even more by underemployment – working long hours to eke out the barest income, without the time or resources needed for training or education. And, the patterns of youth unemployment and underemployment show that our future is bedeviled by discrimination. Young women are more likely to be affected than young men. So too, are other socially disadvantaged groups. And our future is threatened by other problems associated with joblessness – crime, vandalism and drugs. We know, in short, that our young people, our future, do not have enough decent work. And therefore, our future does not yet have social stability. And neither do we.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This meeting is the culmination of months of work and research. Most of the countries represented in this room today have held national workshops. You have been involved in extensive research work, and in developing proposals for future action. The programme for discussion ranges through key concerns in the youth employment agenda – including active labour market policies; and opportunities presented by information and communications technology. It highlights the themes identified by the Secretary General’s high level policy network - of employability, equality, entrepreneurship and employment. And last, but not least, it stresses the contributions that can be made by governments, employers and workers. Tripartism is the ILO’s great strength. It is a strength that can make a vital difference in the area of youth employment. The youth employment trends we face today are more than disturbing. Turning them around calls for a concerted effort by all.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Once again, I thank you for your presence here today, and wish you well with your deliberations. You face a daunting agenda; we all face a daunting task. It is essential that we make progress.