Mumbai: To raise awareness about the importance of youth skills development, UNESCO – UNEVOC will celebrate the United Nations World Youth Skills Day on 15 July 2016 (Friday) and has lined up a host of programmes this day. On World Youth Skills Day 2016, UNESCO will launch a new mission Strategy TVET 2016-2021 (TVET stands for technical and vocational education and training).
The Strategy will guide UNESCO’s activities for promotion of TVET and has some actionable initiatives with regard to youth skills development. The Strategy will focus on three key elements: fostering youth employment and entrepreneurship; promoting equity and gender equality; and facilitating transition to green economies and sustainable societies.
UNESCO -UNEVOC will be organizing a launching event involving youths and TVET stakeholders and discuss the way forward. The UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre is one of eight UNESCO institutes and centres in the field of education. UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, science, and culture.
UNESCO –UNEVOC has already a comprehensive digital campaign to celebrate United Nations World Youth Skills Day. These include sharing articles about institution’s celebrations, spreading the word about the day and share photos or images of one’s skills development in action by using the hashtag #WYSD on social media, selfie campaign on individual skills, and use of promotional material made available on a special page.
WorldSkills, a prominent international organization in the skill development area, has started a campaign called #SkillsRuleTheWorld, asking supporters to show how they develop and use their skills.
According to a recent International Labour Organization (ILO) publication, 73.4 million young people were estimated to be unemployed in 2015 (13.1% youth unemployment rate). Further, this figure is expected to increase in most regions by 2017. Structural unemployment, a mismatch between the skills that one worker can offer and the skills demanded from employers, is a key reason for the rise in unemployment rate. One reason for youth unemployment is structural unemployment, a mismatch between the skills that workers in the economy can offer and the skills demanded of workers by employers. Structural unemployment is threat to economic prosperity globally.
