To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the ILO partnership in Nepal, the International Labour Organization held a youth dialogue on 15 December, 2016 focusing on Nepali youth’s vision for the future of work. The dialogue was designed to create a platform to discuss the opportunities and challenges around youth employment specific to Nepal and to complement the ILO’s Future of Work initiative. To mark the ILO’s centenary in 2019, the Future of Work initiative was proposed by the ILO Director-General, Mr. Guy Ryder to guide and strengthen the ILO’s efforts in addressing the future challenges of social justice.

Recognizing outstanding Nepali young figures, the youth dialogue brought together over a 100 Nepali youth from various sectors and interests to identify and acknowledge the spirit of the Nepali youth and to uphold the role of the youth in the development of Nepal. A total of four speakers; Ms. Alpaza Rajbhandari Joshi, Mr. Anish Shrestha, Ms. Nishu Baral, and Mr. Surath Giri; spoke about the various dimensions of youth employment pertaining to issues of gender equity, “platform economy”, entrepreneurship, migration, and the “gig economy” followed by two moderated Q&A sessions with the speakers and the ILO Director-General, Mr. Guy Ryder. Mr. Ryder stressed on the need to place the entrepreneurial dialogue in the context of wider approach to youth employment with support from stronger institutions, improved business climate and effective legal frameworks.

The discussions were consolidated in a Declaration which was presented at the end of the event. The Declaration acknowledged the necessity to leave no one behind and to embrace the diversity of youth across Nepal, by including their voices in shaping policies. The Declaration presented six recommendations to the Government of Nepal, private sector, Trade Unions, the ILO, and other development partners. The recommendations relate to regulation of the “platform economy”; capitalizing on the demographic dividend; labour market information; work exposure measures; gender equality; and monitoring and evaluation.