On International Youth Day, Annan calls for strategies to provide ‘decent’ work

With 74 million young people currently unemployed, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan marked International Youth Day today with a call for strategies to provide “decent and productive work” around the world and thus avoid “the tragedy of young lives misspent in crime, drug abuse, civil conflict and even terrorism.”

“Rising unemployment takes a heavy toll among young people who are particularly vulnerable to shocks in the labour market,” Mr. Annan said in a message celebrating the fourth such Day. “Lay-offs, restructuring and insufficient opportunities to enter the world of work condemn many to a life of economic hardship and despair.”

Noting that in the next 10 years, more than 1 billion young people will enter the working age population, he added: “We must develop strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work that will allow them to become independent and responsible global citizens. This involves promoting employability, equal opportunities, entrepreneurship and employment creation for youth all over the world.”

Mr. Annan stressed that the Youth Employment Network he had formed as part of the global partnership for development, one of the goals set by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, aimed to mobilize financial resources for youth employment, build bridges between school and work, and invite youth organizations to play an active role in the design and implementation of national action plans.

“Young people should never be seen as a burden on any society, but as its most precious asset,” he declared. As one of the (network) Panel members rightly stressed, unemployment is the problem; youth is the solution.”