ILO partners with EDEX to launch "Job Fair 2016"

ILO partnered with EDEX Expo to launch their fifth "Job Fair" in January 2016 in Colombo with the aim of facilitating decent employment opportunities for youth.

Press release | 24 January 2016
Opening of the Exhibition by Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatillake, Mr Donglin Li, ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives
International Labour Organization (ILO), partnered with EDEX Expo to launch their fourth "Job Fair" in January 2016 in Colombo with the aim of facilitating decent employment opportunities for youth.

The three day exhibition was declared open to the public and school children by Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Hon Gayantha Karunatillake.

ILO Country Director, Mr Li in his address stated that, youth unemployment becomes a global issue nowadays. Sri Lanka too faces a unique youth employment challenge, as the latest estimates indicate that unemployment is 17.2% for the 15-19 years old and 37.6% for the 20 to 24 years old, much higher than average rate of 4%, while young girls show rates higher than their male counterparts.

He noted that the future depends on the next generation and on all the young faces we see today in the crowd. Today’s event is a contribution toward a broader in scope goal: assuring decent work for all youth. He assured that ILO’s continue commitment, as well as the rest of the United Nations system supports the national stakeholders to promote youth employment.