AU-ILO Youth Employment Strategy for Africa (YES-Africa)

Endorsed by governments, worker’s and employer’s organizations across the continent, the AU/ILO Youth Employment Strategy is a call to invest in and promote the creation of decent jobs for youth.

The AU/ILO Youth Employment Strategy for Africa (YES-Africa) is a collaborative effort between young people, governments, social partners, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

YES-Africa is designed to transform the world of work by creating decent jobs and integrating African youth into labour markets. Its vision is an Africa where all youth are empowered to transform their lives and communities through productive and decent employment for a sustainable and inclusive future. The Strategy is a key deliverable in the implementation of the Abidjan Declaration which was unanimously adopted by ILO constituents during the ILO Africa Regional Meeting in 2019.

Its mission is to call upon African governments, social partners, development partners and other stakeholders to invest in and promote the creation of decent jobs for youth.

The central tenet of YES-Africa is the creation of productive employment opportunities as the starting point for all youth employment policies, programmes and initiatives in Africa.

The Strategy urges a focus on job creation by taking economic and employment initiatives that spur structural transformation. This approach necessitates a demand-driven strategy that furthers the global ambition of achieving social justice

YES-Africa recommends that all youth employment policies, programmes and initiatives undertaken in Africa adopt the creation of decent and productive employment opportunities for youth as their fundamental starting point.

Across five key policy areas, YES-Africa spells out priority actions that encapsulate a comprehensive approach to tackling youth employment challenges:

1. Structural transformation and sectoral approaches: Africa’s economies need to transition from low to high productivity sectors to create more and better employment. This required to develop and implement pro-youth employment and economic policies and to prioritize the development of sectors with high youth employment impact.
2. Economic integration: private and public investments must stimulate job creation. African countries at the same time need to progress employment-responsive trade integration and leverage the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Governments need to facilitate fair and demand-led labour migration.
3. Just transition to inclusive, green and digital economies: African countries must place considerations of social justice at the heart of these changes, leveraging opportunities to create more and better jobs for young people by moving from traditional to sustainable modes of production and consumption. This includes harnessing the potential of digital transformation and AI, while also managing the disruptions and risks for workers.
4. Labour market policies: active labour market programmes play a crucial role in managing transitions into decent work, safeguarding working conditions and protecting vulnerable youth. Similarly, young people require access to high-quality and well-financed public employment services.
5. Skills development and economic empowerment: The ready Africa’s youth workforce for the labour market demand of the 21th century, counties must expand demand-driven and inclusive skills development strategies and systems. At the same time, young entrepreneurs require support to access markets and financing mechanism that allow them to grow their businesses.

© ILO

© ILO

YES-Africa was developed by governments, social partners, youth representatives AUC and ILO from 2022 to 2024. This included co-creation workshops with young people, consultations and validation events with tripartite delegations. More than 100 youth representatives from across the Africa continent contributed.

YES-Africa was unanimously endorsed by tripartite delegations during the AU Specialised Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment in August 2024.

YES-Africa is not a mere blueprint but a call to action, urging collaborative and innovative approaches to creating a future in which African youth are not just jobseekers but key drivers of a resilient and diverse economy.

The Strategy invites all actors to contribute to this common goal, ensuring that the potential of Africa's youth is fully realized so as to create sustainable and inclusive economies and societies.

© ILO

© ILO

If you have any questions regarding the AU-ILO Youth Employment Strategy for Africa, you can get in touch with Jonas Bausch ([email protected]), Youth Employment Specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Africa.