Celebrating World Youth Skills Day on 15 July

Join us and celebrate on 15 July 2016!

To raise awareness about the importance of youth skills development, UNESCO-UNEVOC will join the world in celebrating United Nations World Youth Skills Day on 15 July 2016! Join the celebrations and get active by:

Sharing articles about your institution’s celebrations. Email us your stories at info.tvet@unesco.org and get featured on our website or social media;
Spreading the word about the day and share photos or images of youth skills development in action by using the hashtag #WYSD on social media;
Post your skill – show the world your skills by posting a “selfie” of yourself and your skill/s on social media using the hashtags #myskill2016 and #WYSD;
UNEVOC Centres are invited to use promotional material made available on a special page for UNEVOC Network members.

View the WEBCAST

09:00 - Opening programme

09:30-11:00 - Transforming TVET for sustainable development

11:30-12:30 – Leveraging youth engagement in TVET

12:30-13:00 – Launching of TVET Strategy

Why is World Youth Skills Day important?

According to a recent International Labour Organization (ILO) publication

, 73.4 million young people were estimated to be unemployed in 2015 (13.1% youth unemployment rate), and this figure is expected to increase in most regions by 2017. One reason for youth unemployment is structural unemployment, a mismatch between the skills that workers in the economy can offer and the skills demanded of workers by employers. Structural unemployment affects all regions around the world and it impacts not only economies but also hampers the transition to equitable and inclusive societies envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

What role does technical and vocational education and training (TVET) play?

Providing youth with skills development opportunities, for example through quality TVET, is critical to give them future perspectives. TVET has direct links to the labour market and therefore helps mitigate structural unemployment by providing training programmes that match current and future labour market needs. This also includes promoting entrepreneurial and innovative skills for self-employment. TVET also contributes to personal development and empower individuals to become active citizens.

Unfortunately, the development and implementation of TVET related policy is often fragmented which prevents youth from acquiring the skills that they need. World Youth Skills Day presents an opportunity to come together and recognize the importance of giving youth the chance to contribute to their communities’, countries’ and international sustainable development!

#WYSD at the United Nations in Bonn

World Youth Skills Day 2016 will coincide with the launching of the newly adopted UNESCO Strategy for TVET (2016-2021). The Strategy will guide UNESCO’s activities with regard to TVET and has some important implications for youth skills development. The Strategy has three priority areas:

fostering youth employment and entrepreneurship
promoting equity and gender equality
facilitating transition to green economies and sustainable societies

UNESCO-UNEVOC will be organizing a launching event which will ask youth and TVET stakeholders to come together and discuss the way forward.

WYSD celebrations around the world

WorldSkills has started a campaign called #SkillsRuleTheWorld, asking supporters to show how they develop and use their skills. More information can be found here