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INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MONTH 2023 AND THE YOUTH LABOUR MARKET


Fundizwi Sikhondze

Publishing Editor



The month of August of every year is recognised as the international month for youth. Specifically, the United Nations (UN) has designated and  recognise the 12th of August for each year as the International Youth Day (IYD) and each year IYD is embellished with a theme to guide the global focus within the youth scope. 

The theme for the 2023 IYD ,as pronounced by the United Nations (UN), was "Green Skills for Youth, Towards a Sustainable World". 

The IYD 2023 came into being in the backdrop of an International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2022 report titled , Global Employment Trends for Jobs for Youth report. The report suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected young people in the job market around the globe. Some of the ways jobs for youth were found to have been affected include through the disruption to their education and training leading to inadequate preparedness for the world of work. The report also states that young people had also lost both employment opportunities (last one first out) and access to jobs (closure of economy) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In assessing recovery of youth jobs the ILO global employment trends for jobs report relied on a model that was crafted based on four scenarios ,green scenario, digital scenario, care scenario and a combined scenario. The combined scenario (combining the three scenarios) model showed that if this approach can be implemented and receive adequate funding it can grow the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 4.2% and create 32 million youth jobs by 2030.

The narrative on the need for green skills as suggested by the IYD 2023 theme has partly been fuelled by calls within the UN system for countries to provide more funding towards the establishment of a low carbon or green economy. The ILO recently released a report which suggested that globally young people can benefit immensely from 850 million jobs that may be created in the green space by 2030 if the investment in the sector can be upscaled as suggested. 

Post COVID-19 economy

The post COVID-19 economy is broadly characterised by increased indebtedness of countries to the global financial Institutions (GFIs) because countries had to seek budgetary shortfall financing during the economically difficult period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many developing countries are therefore now subjected to heightened, more stringent austerity driven policy restrictions (imposed by the GFIs) that particularly impact the expansion of employment of new workers in the public service . These austerity policies have adversely affected prospective young entrants to the job market more than any grouping of workers particularly when hiring of key public service jobs such as education and health jobs.

Reports have also suggested that young people who are able to find employment are likely to return to insecure jobs in the post Covid-19 stage.

Possible Solutions

It is clear that for young people to access employment and therefore a chance to build their lives there is need for a overall policy shift in the developing world that includes the following:

  • A comprehensive approach to job creation and economic recovery by countries that involves more that just the green economy as a panacea to the challenges facing youth employment. 
  • An economic stimulus that targets young people ,their upkeep and key economic activities.
  • Social security initiatives that target young people and assist them to maintain a dignified existence while navigating the job market and or establishing business ventures.
  • Strong policies that ensure that youth progress (employment and business) indicators are utilised to ensure youth socio economic progress is a priority for every sector of society.
  • Strong advocacy from youth organisations in the civil society in order to monitor progress and encourage the deepening of implementation of youth oriented commitments.
The future belongs to young people and it must be reflected in how they are treated socially and economically.

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