December 2016

Feature Article


UN Entities Highlighted News

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum (30-31 January 2017)

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum (30-31 January 2017)

This year’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum centres on “The role of youth in poverty eradication and promoting prosperity in a changing world”. As in previous years, the meeting will provide a platform for youth to engage in a dialogue with Member States and share ideas on innovation, collective action and solutions to global problems. It will also address the concept of “shared prosperity” – a concept which is at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The forum brings youth leaders from around the world to the UN Headquarters in New York and gives them the opportunity to engage with policy-makers as well as youth delegates and representatives. The outcome of the forum will be made available to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) in July 2017. For more information, see the Concept Note and see the Draft Programme!

 

UNAOC: Young Peacebuilders in West Africa Workshop

UNAOC: Young Peacebuilders in West Africa Workshop

The United Nations Alliance of Civilization's (UNAOC) Young Peacebuilders in West Africa workshop took place in Abuja, Nigeria from 20 to 26 November 2016. It brought together 20 inspiring young leaders, aged 18 to 25, who are in the beginning stages of their peacebuilding practice. Implemented in collaboration with the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), the programme aims to increase young people’s access to networking and competence development opportunities in peacebuilding. The programme comprises of three phases: seven weeks of online learning, a one-week face-to-face workshop, and a three-month applied learning period. More

 

UNCDF: How Access to Financial Services and Financial Education Affects Young People

UNCDF: How Access to Financial Services and Financial Education Affects Young People

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) launched YouthStart in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation to boost economic opportunities for young people around the world. UNCDF recently completed an in-depth financial diaries study to better understand current knowledge, skills, and behaviours of youth that have accessed financial and non-financial services through the YouthStart programme. Find out more and read a brief about the programme.

 

UNDESA: “Youth Policies and Inequalities in Latin America” International Meeting

UNDESA: “Youth Policies and Inequalities in Latin America” International Meeting

How can youth policies contribute to reducing inequalities faced by young people? An international meeting on “Youth Policies and Inequalities in Latin America” took place from 29 November 2016 through 1 December 2016 in Mexico City, Mexico, bringing together more than 140 representatives of youth organizations, governments and academia from 22 countries. The meeting was co-organized by the Government of Mexico (the Mexican Institute of Youth (IMJUVE in Spanish) and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Ibero-American Youth Organization (OIJ in Spanish) and Mexico City.

 

UNDP: #ACTon2250 – First Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace & Security

UNDP: #ACTon2250 – First Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace & Security

A year ago, on 9 December 2015, the UN Security Council adopted ground-breaking Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security, which recognizes for the first time that “young people play an important and positive role in the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security”. To mark the first anniversary, UNDP, in partnership with the Inter-Agency Working Group on Youth & Peacebuilding, has launched a global campaign calling on young people to #ACTon2250 and share how they contribute to building peace around the world. More

 

PBSO: Youth, Peace and Security Regional Consultation and High-Level Dialogue in Amman, Jordan

PBSO: Youth, Peace and Security Regional Consultation and High-Level Dialogue in Amman, Jordan

The first of a series of regional consultations for the Progress Study (requested by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security), was held in the Arab States region, in Amman, Jordan from 4 to 6 December 2016. It was organized by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and gathered 62 young people from 18 countries (selected by an open call for participants). Key recommendations received include the need to enhance youth political participation; to create a regional network of young peacebuilders; to reach out to marginalized youth and recognize the exclusion of young refugees. More

 

UNDP: Innovation for Violence Prevention in Panama

UNDP: Innovation for Violence Prevention in Panama

Youth leaders from the province of Colón, Panama, came together for the first innovation camp focused on co-designing alternative solutions in order to prevent violence and build safer communities. Through their participation in this camp, the first in a series of three, the youth were able to share their perception on citizen security issues affecting their communities while co-creating new ways to promote peace. The initiative is part of the Regional Security and Violence Prevention Project (PREJUVE), carried out together with the local government of Colón. More

 

UNDP: Join the Arab States Space on the Youth4Peace Global Knowledge Portal!

UNDP: Join the Arab States Space on the Youth4Peace Global Knowledge Portal!

The Youth4Peace in the Arab States space is open to anyone who wishes to engage on peace and security issues, including UN Security Council Resolution 2250 and related Progress Study. Create your free online profile and start sharing the latest news, events and resources, join ongoing consultations or start your own! The space is part of the Youth4Peace Global Portal, the first platform on youth and peacebuilding developed through a multi-stakeholder partnership between the United Nations, civil society and youth-led organizations. More

World Bank Group: Launch of The Ideas for Action Competition

World Bank Group: Launch of The Ideas for Action Competition

The Ideas for Action (I4A) competition is a joint initiative coordinated by the World Bank Group and the Wharton School of Business to spark global interest in young people on the future of development and how it will be financed. It seeks innovative ideas on financing sustainable development. The I4A competition offers the winners something more attractive than a financial prize: access and opportunity. It provides opportunities for the next generation of leaders to contribute to the actions needed to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help shape the narrative guiding the 2030 Agenda and its objectives, and as such, take ownership over its implementation. Competition submissions are due by 28 February 2017. More


Youth in Action

International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI): "Youth Empowerment for Agenda 2030 Action through Social Entrepreneurship and Digital Social Currencies" Workshop

International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI): "Youth Empowerment for Agenda 2030 Action through Social Entrepreneurship and Digital Social Currencies" Workshop

Imagine a world in which youth action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has a value and activities, products and services that contribute to sustainable development on local and global level receive funding and other incentives from local and global public and private sources in a globally coordinated transaction platform — an Agenda 2030 Youth Action Marketplace. The organizers of the workshop "Youth Empowerment for Agenda 2030 through Social Entrepreneurship and Digital Social Currencies" believe that such vision is needed and can be implemented. The workshop will take place on 16 January 2017 at the Vienna International Center and is organized by the International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI), in cooperation with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Youth. More

 

The Hunger Project - Youth Halting the Norm of Child Marriage

The Hunger Project - Youth Halting the Norm of Child Marriage

In 2015, The Hunger Project-Bangladesh engaged 46,000 participants in campaigns to end child marriage. Shapla, aged 13, almost became a child marriage victim. However, she previously participated in The Hunger Project’s Youth Ending Hunger programme and found help from a safe resource – her program facilitator, Rajia. Rajia confronted Shapla’s parents, explaining the notions of consent and dignity, and the legal penalties of child marriage. Finally, her parents agreed to stop the marriage. Shapla’s experience is among 352 child marriages halted by The Hunger Project-Bangladesh in 2016. More

Publications

ILO: Promoting Decent Work Opportunities for Roma youth in Central and Eastern Europe

ILO: Promoting Decent Work Opportunities for Roma youth in Central and Eastern Europe

Only 15 per cent of Roma youth in Europe have completed upper-secondary education and almost 60 per cent aged between 16 and 24 are not in employment, education or training. This ILO Resource Guide on Promoting Decent Work Opportunities for Roma Youth in Central and Eastern Europe brings together relevant international instruments and experiences aimed at combating widespread institutional and labour market discrimination, as well as poverty amongst Roma. More

ILO: What are the Effects of Job Polarization on Skills Distribution of Young Workers in Developing Countries?

ILO: What are the Effects of Job Polarization on Skills Distribution of Young Workers in Developing Countries?

One of the most discussed topics in the domain of labour economics during the last couple of decades has been the polarization of employment in industrialized countries, namely the growth of high and low paying jobs and the decline of jobs paying wages around the middle of the wage distribution. This ILO technical brief examines the skill distribution of young workers in different industries as a function of their trade openness. Three case studies of Madagascar, Ukraine and Vietnam are presented to better demonstrate the research topic. More

ILO: Inequality of Opportunity and (Unequal) Opportunities in the Youth Labour Market: How is the Arab World Different?

ILO: Inequality of Opportunity and (Unequal) Opportunities in the Youth Labour Market: How is the Arab World Different?

Using the recent school-to-work transition surveys for Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia, this ILO technical brief addresses the unique phenomenon in the Middle East and North Africa region of disproportionately high levels of unemployment among educated young people. It aims to assess to what extent high graduate unemployment is related to inequality of opportunity or rather to deeper structural characteristics that create mismatch between the skills demanded in the market and those supplied by labour market entrants. More

ILO: Labour Market Transitions of Young Women and Men in the Middle East and North Africa

ILO: Labour Market Transitions of Young Women and Men in the Middle East and North Africa

This ILO report presents the results of the School-to-work transition surveys implemented in five countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, namely, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Tunisia, between 2013 and 2015. The region’s increasing levels of educational attainment, especially among women, accompanied by insufficient demand for skilled workers are among the primary causes of difficulties in the labour market transitions of youth. The report focuses heavily on issues of quality of employment and also draws attention to the path and duration of the labour market transitions of young people. More

ILO: Can we Measure the School-To-Work Transition of Young Persons with Labour Force Surveys? – A Feasibility Study

ILO: Can we Measure the School-To-Work Transition of Young Persons with Labour Force Surveys? – A Feasibility Study

The purpose of this ILO technical brief is to examine the feasibility of obtaining data on school-to-work transitions of young persons from conventional labour force surveys. After an examination of the basic concepts and definitions of the ILO’s School-to-Work Transition Survey (SWTS), the paper examines in turn the feasibility of measurement with retrospective questions in conventional labour force surveys and with matched samples in labour force surveys with rotation sample design. More


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Reference herein to any organization, view, or event is intended for explicit description only and does not constitute or imply endorsement or recommendation by the United Nations, or anyone else.

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