The World Youth Skills Day is celebrated annually on July 15 across the globe. The day is observed to raise awareness and acknowledge the importance of youth skills development, which enables social and economic growth in our communities.
With the outbreak of coronavirus, the unemployment rate has seen a rapid spike. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have led to the worldwide closure of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, threatening the continuity of skills development. Skills and jobs for youth feature prominently in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and SDG target 4.4 calls for a substantial increase in the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 69/145, declaring every July 15 as World Youth Skills Day in November 2014. The General Assembly also pointed out its concern about the high number of unemployed youths worldwide, estimated at 74.5 million in 2013, most of whom live in developing countries. The UN then called on all its members to tackle this problem by improving access to better quality education and training.
According to the United Nations, over 73 million young people are currently unemployed, with 40 million joining the labour market each year. To tackle the problem, at least 475 million new jobs need to be created over the next decade.