The ILO supports the young generation in China for a brighter future

Press release | 25 July 2022
BEIJING, China (ILO News) – On Friday, 22 July 2022, at the invitation of All-China Youth Federation, ILO Country Office Director for China and Mongolia Changhee Lee delivered an opening speech for the Thematic Forum for Employment and Entrepreneurship of World Youth Development Forum in Beijing.

Our world is currently home to 1.8 billion young people and youth contain vast potential and play a crucial role in advancing the 2030 Agenda. However, youth today face unprecedented challenges. The pandemic has taken a toll on every aspect of young people’s lives, in particular their education and employment opportunities.

Millions of youths are not transitioning into decent work and are at the risk of social exclusion. The pandemic has led to a substantial and rapid increase in youth unemployment since 2020. A joint global survey shows, 38 per cent of young people globally were uncertain of their future career prospects and 16 per cent were even fearful about their future. Mentally and professionally, the ongoing crisis will reduce future potential of an entire generation if proper measures are not taken now, Changhee Lee highlighted in his speech.

I believe today’s Forum provides an opportunity for key stakeholders at national and global level to forge broad partnership, through social dialogue, for brighter future of young people in labour markets and societies….Our future starts today, not tomorrow. We have to take actions together now."

Changhee Lee, ILO Country Office Director for China and Mongolia
The ILO always puts youth employment and entrepreneurship on high agenda and the ILO has a long-standing cooperation with Chinese tripartite partners to promote youth employment. Together with MOHRSS and other key stakeholders, ILO rolled out Start and Improve Your Business Programme (SIYB) in 2003, and the entrepreneurship education programme Know About Business (KAB) has also been successfully promoted and localized in China in collaboration with the All-China Youth Federation, the organizer of the Forum since 2005. Millions of young people have been trained for self-employment or small business and KAB Programme was integrated into curricula in more than 1,840 Chinese colleges and universities.

Vice Minister Yu Jiadong of MOHRSS, ILO’s tripartite partner, Vice President Fu Zhenbang of All-China Youth Federation, together with heads of other national and international organizations, also addressed on the thematic forum.

About World Youth Development Forum

This is the first World Youth Development Forum, which aims to create a high-level platform for dialogues among policymakers, youth organizations, youth movements and stakeholders from the world, in order to prioritize youth development in development agenda, and advocate youth action to implement the 2030 Agenda.

The Forum is hosted by the All-China Youth Federation, supported and endorsed by the Chinese government and International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and World Economic Forum(WEF).