15 July 2025 marked a dual milestone: the 10th anniversary of World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) and the 5th anniversary of the Global Skills Academy

(GSA). The theme for WYSD 2025 focused on Youth empowerment through AI and digital skills.

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes economies through Artificial Intelligence (AI), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must evolve to equip youth with future-ready skills. AI is transforming how we live, learn and work — but it also poses serious risks if not implemented equitably.

Why this matters

AI is rapidly changing TVET by:

Personalizing learning through intelligent tutoring systems
Supporting immersive training using virtual reality (VR)
Streamlining certification and career guidance
Modernizing curricula and aligning training with labour market needs

But without systemic reform, the digital divide will grow, especially for marginalized youth.

Key challenges

While AI brings opportunities, it also presents major challenges in TVET:

Bias & inequality
AI systems can reinforce gender and geographic disparities.

Low educator readiness
Many teachers lack confidence in using AI tools.

Limited infrastructure
Most TVET institutions lack the capacity to adopt advanced AI tools.

High costs
Many regions lack funding to scale up AI-driven learning.

Ethical & privacy concerns
AI’s reliance on data and lack of transparency raises critical questions.

Digital misinformation
AI can amplify hate speech, fake news and cyber threats if not well governed.

Underrepresentation
Women and marginalized groups remain significantly underrepresented in AI fields.

Human disconnection
Over-reliance on AI risks undermining essential human elements like mentorship and teamwork.

WYSD 2025: Youth empowerment through AI and digital skills

Infographics
This infographic is a ready-to-use visual resource designed to support the celebration of World Youth Skills Day 2025. It highlights key global insights on youth empowerment, digital skills and the transformative role of AI—featuring statistics on ...

download

A call to action

We invite governments, educators, youth, policy-makers and tech developers to come together and:

Advocate for ethical, inclusive and human-centered AI in TVET
Collaborate globally to share best practices and fund digital skills training
Support grassroots innovations that increase youth employability
Amplify youth voices in decision-making about the future of work

Be part of shaping an inclusive, ethical and empowering future for all youth through AI and digital skills.

Highlights video - 10 years of WYSD

UNESCO event at the Learning Planet Institute in Paris

9:30-15:50 CEST (Paris time) | Agenda
High-level panel discussions with UN officials, policy-makers, educators and youth leaders
Hybrid event with interpretation to French
Concept note

Watch recordings in English

UN event at the ILO Office for the United Nations in New York

8:30-10:00 AM ET (14:30 Paris time)
Co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Portugal and Sri Lanka, UNESCO, the ILO and the UN Youth Office
Watch the recording on UN WEBTV

Youth survey

Youth voices

Global Skills Academy

Skills in Action Photo Competition

Youth survey report

Drawing on insights from over 4,000 respondents across 128 countries, this survey report examines how young people are navigating both the opportunities and challenges of the digital era.

Youth survey report on AI and digital skills

World Youth Skills Day 2025
Drawing on insights from over 4,000 respondents across 128 countries, this survey report examines how young people are navigating both the opportunities and challenges of the digital era. While 62% of youth are already using AI in real-world contexts ...

download

Youth voices

UNESCO-UNEVOC invited young people between the ages of 15 and 35 to showcase how they are leveraging digitalization and artificial intelligence to transform their everyday life, education and training, solve real-world challenges and seize new opportunities in their communities.

Below is a compilation of selected youth voices. You can watch all of the youth voices videos through our YouTube playlist.

Youth bootcamp

A youth bootcamp was designed to equip young people with the essential skills needed to thrive in an automated world. It featured a dynamic, multi-day engagement bringing together youth, practitioners, and institutional partners to strengthen future-oriented skills and youth leadership.

Over the 3 days, 15 participants engaged in hands-on digital and AI skills workshops, youth speed talks, and storytelling sessions. Participants designed and presented a CSR project during a study tour and dialogue with the private sector at Stephenson Formation and KPMG Paris. This experience offered direct exposure to industry perspectives on responsible innovation and skills for the future of work.

View the 10 skills for the future of work

Skills in Action Photo Competition 2025

The UNESCO‑UNEVOC Skills in Action Photo Competition took place earlier this year, giving both amateur and professional photographers the opportunity to showcase compelling stories related to youth skills development.

The competition highlighted powerful visual narratives that captured how technical and vocational skills empower young people around the world.

View winners

Archive of previous WYSD celebrations

UNESCO-UNEVOC WYSD Celebrations 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

UNEVOC International Centre for TVET

Skills for work and life

International Centre for TVET (UNEVOC)

About Us

Network

What we do

Action areas

Knowledge hub

Why this matters

Key challenges

WYSD 2025: Youth empowerment through AI and digital skills

A call to action

Highlights video - 10 years of WYSD

Youth survey report

Youth survey report on AI and digital skills

Youth voices

Youth bootcamp

Skills in Action Photo Competition 2025

Archive of previous WYSD celebrations