WHY
The digital economy is rapidly transforming the employment landscape across industries, including financial services, health, entertainment, transportation and of course, information and communication technologies (ICT). Millions of jobs requiring advanced digital skills will be created in the coming decade, but many countries are projecting a shortfall of skilled workers to fill these jobs. While young people are often considered “digital natives”, the reality is that the majority do not possess job-relevant digital skills. In particular, jobs requiring coding and other advanced ICT skills are going unfilled.
HOW
The growth potential of the digital economy presents an opportunity for tackling the youth employment challenge. In June 2017, the ILO and the ITU launched a campaign to bridge the current skills gap. The goal is to equip five million young people with digital skills – both basic and advanced – by 2030. This will be achieved by mainstreaming digital skills into school curricula, establishing comprehensive on-the-job training systems and mobilizing job creators in the public and private sector to employ young people in digital-centric jobs. There will also be a strong focus on fostering youth-led digital entrepreneurship.
WHO
The ILO and the ITU are committed to leading on this thematic priority. Decent Jobs for Youth brings together a growing number of partners who are committed to identifying and scaling up effective strategies for equipping young people with digital skills.
Call for partners for digital skill programme in Latin America and Africa
Join us to boost youth employment by equipping 25 million young people with digital skills
Equip young people with skills for the digital economy
EVENTS
WEBINAR: Transitioning youth into the labour market: promises and pitfalls of microcredentials
There is no doubt that microcredentials are disrupting today’s learning and training systems. They offer a flexible alternative to…
Youth Dialogue on Investing in Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Future of Work for Youth
On the 31st of January at 2PM CET time, the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, Making Cents International’s Youth Economic…
Young, Green and Digital: Global Conference of Decent Jobs for Youth
The Conference aims at accelerating efforts at global, regional and country-level to improve the lives of young people around the world. It…
Virtual Launch of ILO Report - December 12th 3:00 PM
“Public employment services and active labour market policies for transitions: Responses to mega trends and crises.” This online launch…
Youth Employment Research Forum: The dynamics of youth employment and its supporting policy framewor
Tagging to the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024, the 1st Youth Employment Research…
Digital Skills for Inclusive and Decent Digital Economy in Africa
The side event on Digital Skills for Inclusive and Decent Digital Economy in Africa will bring together ministerial and other senior…
The ILO Academy on Youth Employment
Jointly organised by the ILO's Employment Policy Department and the International Training Centre, the Academy on Youth Employment delivers…
2023 International Forum on Youth Entrepreneurship
On the afternoon of November 3rd, the Youth Entrepreneurship International Forum was successfully held in Dalian. More than 100 guests,…
Scaling up initiatives that harness Africa’s digital transformation to create decent Jobs for Youth
On 16 February 2022, the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and African Union (AU)…
Youth consultations on the forthcoming Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report
Are you a young person (below 30) who is enthusiastic about the future of work and would like to share your voices with the global…
Youth & COVID-19 Session at the Youth at Heart Forum
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a systematic, deep and disproportionate impact on young people. It has been particularly hard on young women…
Virtual Roundtable: Boosting Decent Jobs and Enhancing Skills for Youth in Africa’s Digital Economy
The ILO, the ITU and the AU are organizing a virtual roundtable featuring multi-stakeholder dialogues to build sustainable partnerships and…
Microsoft's Digital Event on Skills
Join us to watch a special, global online event on June 30th at 8:00AM US Pacific Time to hear from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and…
Rights and Voices of Youth: Teach Coding for the Youth
Under the tagline “Rights and Voices of Youth”, ICSB is a very proud partner of Decent Jobs For Youth The Global Initiative for Action.In…
ILO and ICSB Discuss Young People in the World of Work and the Responses to the Impact of Covid-19
ILO’s recently published Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020: Technology and the future of Jobs …
A New Decade for Gender Equality in Youth Employment
Please note that due to the on-going concern about the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Annual Conference has been postponed…
Future of work for youth at One Young World
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the ILO will co-organize a session on the Future of Work at the One Young World…
The Knowledge Fair and Consultation on Financing Decent Work
The Knowledge Fair and Consultation organized by the ILO on 10-11 September 2019 facilitated expert-led consultations and sharing of…
Youth Conference on the Future of Work
The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (…
Accelerating progress under SDG8 and Promoting full employment and decent work for all
This event features the launch of the ILO report "Time to Act for SDG 8: Integrating Decent Work, Sustained Growth and Environmental…
Data Revolution for Ensuring Decent Work for all With A Focus on Youth
This event is a side event of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2019. Participants include representatives from member states,…
What Works in Youth Investment Programmes: Harnessing Joint Efforts to Achieve the SDGs
This event is a side event of the Lisboa+21. It is co-organized by the Office of the Secretary-General's Youth Envoy, UNFPA and ILO under…
International Labour Conference 100 Youth Debate
This Youth Debate at the International Labour Conference 100 brings together young leaders from across the globe to share their views about…
Forum Jeunesse estudiantine et Développement durable
Après le Forum sur l’Action pour le Développement durable et le Rôle de la Jeunesse qui a axé ses discussions sur l’Objectif de…
African Youth Unite for Action Forum
The African Youth Unite for Action Forum is a 2-day conference to engage African youth and co-create solutions to the most pressing…
Youth Employment Funders Group Meeting 2019
The annual in-person meeting of the YEFG will provide a venue for funders to strengthen collaboration towards a coordinated and effective…
Fiji Youth Speak Forum 2019
Fiji YouthSpeak Forum 2019, organized by AIESEC in Fiji will be the second time this unique event be held in Fiji and the Pacific. It…
Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on SDG 8
In preparation for the 2019 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs…
Annual Meeting of the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD)
The Annual Meeting aims to assess progress since the birth of the IANYD, almost 10 years ago, and look forward in terms of…
International Women's Day 2019 - Youth in Business
In view of this year's International Women's Day, the International Trade Centre (ITC) is organising the Youth and Business event to…
Academy on Employment
Responding to current and evolving labour market challenges, the Academy aims to build the capacities of government officials, social…
Summer School on the Future of Work
The world of work looks a little different everyday. These changes, driven by technological innovation, demographics, climate change, and…
Boosting Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy
Digital skills are an increasingly important pathway to youth employment and entrepreneurship. Investing in digital skills development for…
The Future of Work, Youth Employment and South-South Cooperation (BAPA+40 Side Event)
As a contribution to the BAPA+40 and in harmonisation with ILO’s Centenary celebration, this event will revolve around two strategic themes…
AIESEC International Presidents Meeting
AIESEC International Presidents Meeting brings together over 170 young leaders from 120 countries and territories. Through the seven-day…
Decent Jobs for Youth: Working together in Asia and the Pacific (APFSD side event)
The FAO, ILO, UNDP and UNFPA are joining forces with the Government of Bangladesh in the context of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs…
Research Workshop on "Boosting Decent Employment for Africa's Youth'
Boosting Decent Employment for Africa’s Youth is a multi-funder research initiative launched in 2018 by the International Development…
Turbocharging Youth Employment in Africa: A New Approach
This event will build on dialogue in assessing new strategies to jointly boost youth employment in Africa. The conference is convened with…
World Day for Decent Work 2019
The 7th October 2019 will be celebrated as World Day for Decent Work engaging youth employees, labour association, public and private…
Global Education Meeting 2018
UNESCO’s Global Education Meeting reviewed progress towards the global education targets and commitments in the 2030 Agenda. It brought a…
Global Opportunity Youth Convening
This event marks the inaugural youth convening of the recently announced Global Opportunity Youth Initiative. The goal of this convening is…
Rights and Voices of Youth
To address the extent of today’s youth employment challenge, it takes more than just one organization or one sector; it literally takes a…
Trade 2030 - WTO Public Forum
Technology is transforming our lives and our economies — including the way we trade. As the pace of change continues to increase, this year…
Public Service Innovations through the South-South Network
On the occasion of the Global South-South Development Expo 2018 in New York, a side event on Public Service Innovation Through South-South…
Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa
The conference aims to exchange among stakeholders on knowledge and best practices regarding the interfaces between agriculture, youth…
World Youth Skills Day 2018 - Youth Skills for Sustainability and Innovation
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN, the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the UN, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special…
Academy on Youth Employment
The Academy on Youth Employment is jointly organised by the Youth Employment Programme of the ILO and the International Training Centre of…
AIESEC International Congress 2018
The AIESEC International Congress will provide a platform for more than 700 youths to celebrate the development of young leadership,…
Decent employment for young people at risk: multi-stakeholder partnerships to leave no one behind
Bringing together the expertise of the academia, NGO practitioners, corporations, UN agencies and young people themselves, the objective of…
Youth Employment Funders Group Annual Meeting
The annual meeting of the Youth Employment Funders Group (YEFG) aims to strengthen donors’ collaboration to address the youth employment…
Innovations, Challenges and Good Practices in Job-ready Digital Skills Training
Mobile Learning Week is the annual United Nation’s flagship ICT in education conference bringing together education and technology experts…
The skills mismatch: the digital skills employers are looking for
ITU and ILO will organize an interactive session that will gather private sector companies who will share with the audience their views on…
How to use science, technology & innovation to facilitate youth engagement, development & resilience
The IDEATHON, a breakout session of the 7th ECOSOC Youth Forum, will provide a platform for representatives of youth organizations, Member…
Launch of the engagement platform of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth
On 29 November 2017, partners of Decent Jobs for Youth and other key youth employment actors will meet to jointly launch the engagement…
Skills for the future of Work
The 2017 World Youth Skills Day will provide an opportunity for representatives of Member States, the United Nations system, the private…
Productive Inclusion of vulnerable young people.
The 1MiO initiative aims to create one million opportunities for skills development, employment,&
Supporting evidence-based policies for youth
J-PAL’s mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policies are informed by scientific evidenc