Up to 75-million young people in the world between the ages of 15 and 35 are facing the crisis of unemployment and under-employment.
This state of affairs threatens social cohesion and carries high social and economic costs. This means that the possibility of social unrest is greatly increased on one hand and on the other, unemployment means that young people are not contributing to the fiscus through taxes and help to grow the economy.
These are some of the challenges that the International Labour Organisation is grappling with at its annual conference in Geneva currently underway (May 29-June 15). In its report Youth Employment Crisis: Time for Action, the ILO says social partners have a role to play in mitigating the effects of youth unemployment and underemployment.
The crisis means that instead, it is the responsibility of governments to ensure that there is a social protection and support for those who are out of employment.
To mitigate against this challenged, Governments should enhance fiscal and institutional capacities to undertake timely and targeted policies to reduce macro-economic volatility.
As a result of which, the ILO has urged:
- Time-bound national youth action plans which are pro-employment
- Credible commitment to tackling the challenge of durable youth employment
- Measurable outcomes developed with the involvement of social partners (workers, employers and government)
- Ensure coherence of youth employment measures and inter-institutional coordination of key players around a common platform of action
- Youth employment policies that address not only unemployment but focus on quality of jobs for youth and reducing vulnerabilities
Discussion on the youth employment crisis dates back to 2005 when the International Labour Conference resolved to urge governments to work on:
- Employment and economic policies
- Employability, education, training and skills and the school-to-work transition
- Labour market policies
- Youth entrepreneurship and self-employment, and
- Rights for young people.
On a long-term basis, governments should also ensure free quality basic education as a durable solution to youth unemployment. Focus should also be placed on policies that strengthen the link between education and training systems and the world of work to address the mismatch between educational outcomes and the labour market requirements.Minister Nelisiwe Oliphant, who is attending the conference has pledged government commitment as part of the country’s obligation of creating jobs and growing the economy. To this end, one of the interventions that are spearheaded by the Department of Labour is the series of Jobs Fairs around the country.
“This is an opportunity for employers to meet potential employees. This means we are responding to the matching of skill to the need of labour market and thereby help in mitigating the rife unemployment, especially among young people,” she said.
The first one was held in the Eastern Cape last week (June 7-8).
The ILO has also urged that focus should be on providing a second chance to early school leavers and those who never had the opportunity of having educational opportunities. Further, social partners are urged to develop strategies to promote youth entrepreneurship through enabling environment, making finance accessible for the young entrepreneurs and mentorship for successful business development. Entrepreneurship curricula should also be embedded in early education.
Enquiries:
Musa Zondi
Cell: 0829018081
