In news
15th July is observed as World Youth Skill day every year.
This year’s event
- This year’s theme: ‘Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic’, which will pay a tribute to the resilience and creativity of the youth.
- This year a virtual panel discussion has been organised by the permanent missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka to the United Nations, together with UNESCO, International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
About World Youth Skill day
- In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
- Since then it has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy makers and development partners.
- It aims to achieve the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030
- The declaration devotes considerable attention to:
- Technical and vocational skills development, specifically regarding access to affordable quality TVET.
- The acquisition of technical and vocational skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
- The elimination of gender disparity and ensuring access for the vulnerable.
- The vision of the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030 is fully captured by Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
State of youth employment & Schools
- According to the estimates of UNESCO, schools were shut down for over 30 weeks in 50 per cent of the countries between March 2020 and May 2021.
- Respondents to a survey of the TVET, which was jointly collected by UNESCO, the ILO and the World Bank, revealed that distance learning was the most common way of imparting skills.
- Globally, youth employment fell by 8.7 per cent in 2020, compared with 3.7 per cent for adults.
Related observations
- International Youth Day (12 August)
- International Year of Youth (2010)
- International Youth Year: Participation, Development and Peace (1985)
Source: Hindustan Times
