nemployment among the youth signifies one of the greatest global challenges. A shocking number of young people remain deprived of education, employment or training. Recent estimates suggest that 600 million jobs will have to be created over the next 15 years to address this challenge. In addition, it is estimated that 96.8 percent of all young workers in developing countries are in the informal economy. Also, low youth unemployment rates may hide poor job quality, especially for 87 percent of the world’s youth living in developing countries.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that 73.4 million young people were estimated to be unemployed in 2015, a 13.1 percent youth unemployment rate. The figure is expected to have grown in most regions by 2023. To provide young people with quality education, training and skills, a UN resolution was adopted by the General Assembly on December 18, 2014, to announce the World Youth Skills Day on July 15 to remind us that teachers stand at the forefront of this great global effort. The theme declared for the World Youth Skills Day 2023 calls for “skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future.” It highlights the essential role that teachers, trainers and other educators play in providing skills for youth to transition to the labour market to actively engage in their communities and societies. The aim is to encourage the youth to celebrate the value of acquiring skills.

The ever-increasing young population in South Asian countries highlights the need to prioritise population and economic policies to address issues of this large chunk of the population – the youth – by creating marketable education and skill development opportunities. This will help them develop their potential and progress economically.

One of the main features of Pakistan’s population is a fast growing young population – more than 68 percent are below the age of 30 years. A large bracket of this age group looks for employment as a top urgency in order to run their households and provide for their families. The recent tragedy involving the unfortunate deaths of 300 Pakistanis in an overcrowded boat near the coast of Greece illustrates the lengths to which young people will go – traversing dangerous routes to Europe in search of a better future. This is not the first incident of its kind, indicating the alarming situation of employment needs of our youth.

The youth have a great role in nation-building. A young population has the potential to help a country develop towards progress and to bring social reform within. Almost four million youth attain working age every year, compared to the one million jobs added per annum. Unfortunately, with the recent Covid-19 pandemic, the challenges for Pakistan’s youth to progress have greatly multiplied.

In South Asian countries, Pakistan has the lowest female labour force participation rates across all age groups. Empowering young women with technical education and skill development capacities will provide them with a better opportunity to improve their financial positions and contribute to the national economy.

Women and girls are far behind the male population in their access to digital skills due to a culture of gender discrimination. The rural-urban divide further exacerbates the situation.

A considerable number of young people are actively supporting communities to achieve targets in the SDGs that matter most to them. Celebrating these contributions and their impact will inspire innovations to find solutions for their communities and societies.

By 2030, Pakistan will have to ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education and training under the SDGs that Pakistan is a signatory to. Actions to eliminate gender disparities in access to education and vocational training will also be ensured. Pakistan was the first country to adopt SDGs 2030 Agenda through a unanimous resolution of the parliament.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the World Youth Skills Day stated that: “Equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship will lead to the goals of world development. Let us unite in recognising the potential of young people as catalysts for change and commit to providing them with the skills and opportunities they need to build a prosperous and sustainable world for all.”

The writer is a playwright and freelance journalist. He can be reached at  pashajaved1@gmail.com and his blogging site: soulandland.com