International Labour Organization

Youth Employment Network (YEN) Newsletter, April 2005 this workshop sought as its primary objective to highlight the role of entrepreneurship in the achievement of the Brazilian Government’s Primeiro Emprego (First Employment) Program.

News Flash National Action Plans and progress reports submitted to the UN number over 30

The workshop also discussed strategies to strengthen youth participation in formulating, implementing and evaluating youth public policies and the Primeiro Emprego Program, and to profile the Youth Employment Network at the World Social Forum.

Over 30 countries have made submissions to the UN through their Permanent Missions in New York in response to a UN Note Verbale, reminding countries to submit their National Action Plans on youth employment or progress reports toward the development of such plans.

The advisory committee also established relations with the YENs Youth Consultative Group (a group of 13 international youth organizations who themselves represent a wider pool of 35 youth NGOs) with representatives from International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) the Youth branch of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the YMCA and the European Youth Forum attending and providing support to the Brazilian youth.

These submissions will be incorporated into a Global Analysis and Evaluation Report, currently being drafted by the YEN. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will submit this report to the General Assembly at its 60th Session. Theses submissions will also be discussed by Member States during two special plenary sessions of the General Assembly on 4-5 October 2005. GTZ, Rotary International, ICFTU and YES are among partners who have alerted their networks to this process. The YENs Youth Consultative Group (YCG) and its constituent members have also been active in mobilising their members in support of this push. Youth Employment Network Workshop on Entrepreneurship at the World Social Forum, Porte Alegre, Brazil In partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Labour and its newly formed YEN-Brazil advisory committee, (comprising a broad grouping of national youth organizations)

High-Level Panel meeting scheduled for 20-21 May in China The All-China Youth Federation will be hosting the next meeting of the YENs HighLevel Panel from 20-21 May in Beijing. Planned activities include: -

A dialogue between Chinese and International Business Leaders and the High-Level Panel on youth employment; Presentation and discussion of an initiative on development, collective security and youth employment as requested by the HighLevel Panel at its last meeting in Washington D.C. in September 2004;

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Agenda could be used in developing international, regional and national action plans for employment. Such plans should focus on microeconomics, as well as macroeconomics, the quantity and quality of work, increased productivity in agriculture, and supply and demand.

Opening of the YEN China Partnership Office and signing of a Partnership Arrangement between the YEN and the ACYF; Presentation of Preliminary Results of the School-to-Work Transition Survey being undertaken by the ACYF in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and supported by the ILO; A review of the global analysis report of National Action Plans on Youth Employment as requested by UN General Assembly Resolutions A/57/165 and A758/133; Discussion and agreement on a strategy to influence the five-year review of the Millennium Declaration and increase the profile of youth employment within the MDG review.

¾ Commission for Africa report includes recommendations on youth employment The UK-led Commission for Africa report urges wealthy nations to double their aid to the continent, raising it by £30bn ($50bn) a year over 10 years. The report included a series of recommendations relating to the importance of employment creation in the fight against African poverty drawing specific attention to the issue of youth employment and suggesting the creation of a 100 million USD Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund that will encourage new partnerships in the financial and non-financial sectors and contribute to the African Union’s objectives of promoting job creation for young people and women’s entrepreneurship.

YEN featured in major events ¾ Employment roundtable during the highlevel segment of the Commission for Social Development, February, New York Describing “decent work” as the engine of economic growth and a vital tool in combating poverty, speakers at a round-table discussion on “promoting full employment” during the Commission for Social Development emphasized the urgent need to develop active national employment policies, focusing particularly on youth, and coherent international strategies in the field.

The report also suggests that Developed countries should provide an additional 30 million USD over three years to expand the work of the YEN in providing technical and financial assistance to 25 sub-Saharan African countries in drawing up national action plans on youth employment.

Opening the discussion, Allan Larsson, Rapportueur of the YENs High-Level Panel noted the “sad lack” of employment policies in international economic and social strategies. Emphasizing the need for a broad coalition of international organizations to lay down concrete strategies on employment creation, he said the world labour force would expand over the next decade by some 500 million people, who should be seen as assets, rather than problems.

¾ YEN on the agenda at the G8 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Conference Ministers, at the conclusion of the G8 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Conference in March, agreed to participate actively in the discussion of youth employment at the International Labour Conference in June 2005 and called for a YEN high-level roundtable dialogue, involving ministers, business and trade union leaders during the conference.

Speakers also highlighted the need to direct official development assistance towards employment creation, as well as to transfer employment-creating experiences between nations. In that respect, Jane Stewart, ILO member of the YEN Steering Committee said her organization’s Global Employment

Jane Stewart, ILO Deputy Executive Director, Employment Sector made a Statement to the Conference and the ILO submitted a background paper entitled Youth

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between the World Programme of Action for Youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The panel consisted of Johan Schölvinck (Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, DESA and YEN Steering Committee Member), Joao Salviano (Bureau member European Youth Forum and participant to the consultative meeting in Coimbra), Renata Florentino (Co coordinator, Brazil Youth Voices and participant to the consultative meeting in New York) and Guido Schmidt-Traub (Policy Adviser, the Millennium Project). Discussions were also held with representatives of UN Member States.

employment: From a national challenge to a global development goal (EN, FR) Core Partner Activities

WPAY: Youth meet in Portugal The UN Programme on Youth held two consultative meetings with youth organizations and youth representatives in February 2005 to contribute to the review of the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY) by the General Assembly in October 2005. The meetings reviewed achievements made since the adoption of WPAY in 1995 (employment is one of the ten original priority areas of the WPAY). The Government of Portugal hosted the first meeting. The outcome documents, together with national evaluations will forum a supplement to the Secretary-General's World Youth Report 2005 to be submitted to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session.

World

Bank

launches

Youth,

Development & Peace Network The World Bank has intensified its work with young people from both developed and developing countries in the conviction that young people are a powerful force for change, and that they need to be empowered to participate actively in development work and decision-making. To better understand their needs and priorities, the World Bank has consulted with many youth organizations on various occasions.

Summary reports of the discussions and recommendations from the meetings are available at: www.un.org/youth 30 April 2005: Deadline to submit national evaluations

As a result, youth organizations from around the world, together with the World Bank, have decided to form the Youth, Development & Peace Network. Its mission will be to facilitate dialogue, interaction and joint efforts between youth organizations and the World Bank, together with other actors involved in poverty reduction and various development issues.

All young people are encouraged to participate in the review of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY). Inputs received before 30 April 2005 on the progress made by governments and civil society in the implementation of WPAY will be summarized in a report that is submitted to the General Assembly.

Open house events at a number of World Bank offices were held on 21 March 2005 to launch the network. For more information on this Network please visit the Bank’s Children and Youth unit and its dedicated site for youth Youthink!

The Toolkit "Making Commitments Matter", developed to support youth in this review process, can be downloaded for free in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese at www.un.org/youth The Commission for Social Development convenes a panel on Youth On 14 February 2005, the Commission for Social Development discussed linkages

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Elimination of Child Labour. This is a response to concerns for children in the province becoming victims of trafficking or being employed in dangerous and unsuitable work in the reconstruction process of Aceh. The programme is being implemented in partnership with government agencies, employers, trade unions and nongovernmental organisations.

World Bank supports development projects benefiting youth in 4 Latin American countries Since October 2004 the World Bank in partnership with governments, multilateral agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector, has been supporting youthserving NGOs in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, through a US$1,000,000 “Development Fair”.

In Sri Lanka, the ILO is supporting JobsNet, a public private partnership to provide employment services. In the aftermath of the tsunami the initiative trained 95 students to survey 1,440 households in the affected areas for targeted employment creation and social protection programmes. In light of the urgent need for skilled labour for rehabilitation and reconstruction the ILO and the Sri Lanka-YEN (SL-YEN) Secretariat collaborated with JobsNet to develop an information database on availability of skilled youth in the country.

The Fair consists of a contest, in which grants of US$10.000 have been made available to non-profit organisations that promote innovative programmes to instill civic values among youth in poverty and vulnerable situations. The innovative ideas can be focusing on areas such as culture, environment, education and training, gender, public health, sports and leisure and the inclusion of discriminated groups.A Knowledge Forum has also been set up to highlight strategies to promote the inclusion of youth in society.

Other Tsunami resource links:

The winners will be announced in a ceremony 30-31 May 2005 in Buenos Aires.

- Consultative Group on Indonesia (World Bank and Government of Indonesia supported by the UN agencies) Recovery and Reconstruction Framework Chapter 2 presents a framework for local economic revival through entrepreneurship schemes and the promotion of small enterprises. - ILO and Disnaker Emergency Employment Service in Banda Aceh - Presentation of the ILOs Tsunami response in Aceh

Tsunami Relief: ILO Rapid response through partnership on youth employment Youth in tsunami devastated Aceh province, Indonesia, are being given practical skills training to enable them to find suitable employment under a programme jointly organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Aceh Provincial Department of Manpower (Disnaker).

International Labour Conference 2005 to focus on youth employment The 93rd Session of the ILO International Labour Conference, Geneva, 31 May – 16 June 2005 will see a general discussion item on promoting youth employment. A background paper has been written for this discussion.

Some 190 youth between the ages of 15 and 17 living in the camps for displaced persons in the province have been identified to undergo the 12-day programmes at the Aceh Vocational Training Centre in Banda Aceh.

This discussion will build on the ILO’s Tripartite Meeting on Youth Employment: The way forward held in Geneva, in October 2004 and reflects a growing focus on youth employment from the ILO’s constituents, both technically and politically.

Youth will receive basic training in furniture making, sewing, embroidery or computer skills. Training is conducted in nonexploitative and non-hazardous work, according to the ILO-Programme for the

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The participants suggested a number of policy reforms including improving the quality and numbers of sports teachers trained, launching a campaign on healthy lifestyles and sports, and the development of sports related training and skills development schemes within employment centres of the Ministry of Labour.

ILO workshop on School-to-Work Transition Survey, 20 January 2005 Participants of the ILO Tripartite Meeting on Youth Employment requested that the ILO develop a set of tools that could be used flexibly and adapted by Member States in the formulation of youth employment policies and programmes to bring young people, including young migrant workers, into productive and decent employment.

News from Lead Countries Azerbaijan

The ILO School-to-Work Transition Survey (SWTS) is one such tool as a first step in meeting the ILO constituents’ need for more information on young people. It also serves as a quantitative tool within a broader “tool kit” of ILO-designed instruments that can be tailored to meet the demands of countries who seek ILO assistance in the development of youth employment programmes and policies.

The Ministry of Labour, together with the ILO is developing a National Employment Strategy, National Action Plan on Employment (NAPE) and National Action Plan on Youth Employment (NAPYE), the latter which is an integrated part of the NAPE. The National Employment Strategy is shortly expected to be signed by the President. The Government is planning to hold a National Youth Employment Forum once the strategy is approved.

This meeting took stock of SWTS carried out so far in Vietnam, Indonesia, Bahrain, Kosovo and Jordan, and sought to develop and refine the tool for future interventions. • Meeting background note • Report of the SWTS in Indonesia (2004) • Report of the SWTS in Vietnam (2003)

This Forum under the patronage of the President of Azerbaijan, will bring together all the concerned agencies including NGOs and international organizations in order to contribute to the implementation of the NAPE (NAPYE). This meeting will enable Azerbaijan to share its experience in developing employment policy both regionally and internationally as well as showcasing best practices in securing more and better jobs for Azeri youth.

ILO Youth Sport Programme (YSP) supports sport policy developments in El Salvador. The YSP seeks to achieve greater recognition of the role that sports can play in social development. The programme targets socially excluded young women and men and aims to identify and nurture the capacity of sporting institutions to provide life skills and vocational training to youth so that they are able to play a fuller part in society.

Brazil In partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Labour the newly YEN-Brazil advisory committee is helping create a communications network for youth, a training plan for capacity building local level youth organisations to participate in decision-making, and a pilot initiative at the municipal level to create ‘champion’ mayors for youth employment.

In El Salvador, the ILO supported the Minister of Labor and Social Security in holding a workshop in January 2005 on social inclusion through sports in consultation with the National Olympic Committee of El Salvador (COES). Participants agreed that improving the sports infrastructure in the country would have positive effects on the development of services and jobs for youth.

The youth committee was publicly launched at the YEN workshop the World Social Forum. That meeting also saw the launch of a YEN-Brazil website which the youth committee have helped create.

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youth employment at the centre of its national development policies.

Indonesia The IYEN Network Coordinating Team, with technical support from the ILOs youth employment project in Indonesia is piloting an "advocacy and awareness raising" programme in East Java province. Workshops will be convened in East Java to get feedback from district level representatives on the Indonesia Youth Employment Action Plan (I-YEAP) to feed into a provincial level youth employment strategy, to be implemented at the district level.

Building on these developments the National Agency for the Employment of Youth (APEJ) in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and the international recruitment organisation, Africsearch, and supported by the ILO, are holding Mali’s first recruitment fair, Mali Talents, in Bamako, 10 -11 Mai 2005, at the Palais des Congrès. The event will enable young graduates and executives from leading Malian companies to meet and discuss professional development and career opportunities.

The IYEN is conscious that special measures are needed to ensure that young people, and in particular, young women are provided with sufficient opportunity to participate and contribute to these policy developments. The ILO is therefore conducting a ‘mapping exercise’ to better understand the range of Indonesian youth NGO, and their focus and capacities in relation to employment issues. Following the December 2004 earthquake and tsunami this work has initially focused on Aceh province, as a region with the most immediate need. This exercise will provide the springboard for a larger, national mapping exercise.

Rwanda The Government of Rwanda and UNDP launched the final report of the UN Millennium Project on 18 January 2005 in Kigali. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda specifically mentioned youth employment in his speech as well as Rwanda’s status as a Lead Country of the YEN and raised awareness of the National Action Plan process. Supported by seed money from UNDP the Ministry of Labour has produced a draft National Action Plan on youth employment and this document was reviewed by a range of stakeholders including youth who met between 22-23 March 2005.

Iran Following a joint YEN / ILO mission to Iran in December 2004 a process has been initiated for the development of Iran’s National Action Plan on youth employment with close co-ordination between the Iran National Youth Organisation (NYOIR), the Ministry of Labour and with the support of the ILO, the World Bank and the UNDP country office. Steps are also being taken to implement a School-to-Work Transition Survey (see page 5). Support has been offered to follow up on existing ILO activities in Iran, especially the Iran Employment Strategy.

The World Bank country office along with the Irish Development NGO Trocaire are also supporting the NAP process. News from around the globe Congo Thanks to the hard work of the President of YWCA-Congo, Mme Alice MIRIMO KABETSI the issue of youth employment is rising on the agenda of the Congolese Government.

Mali The President Amadou Toumani Toure has made youth employment the issue of his Presidency. For last few years, the Government of Mali has therefore placed

Alice has been pursuing an active campaign of advocacy on behalf of the YEN and the YWCA, a member organisation of the YENs

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Youth Consultative Group. Her activities have included:

Research proposals The ILO, in support of the YEN, is developing a proposal for a research project on Youth Employment and Collective Security that will tackle the relationship between the two issues. This proposal will be discussed during the next High-Level Panel meeting in China (see page 1)

• An interview on youth employment and the YEN with http://www.radiookapi.net, the radio station of MONUC, the United Nations Mission in Congo. • Articles on YWCA-Congo’s efforts to push for the development of a National Action Plan on youth employment in the weekly newspaper La Richesse Société and Enfant & Société, the quarterly magazine of the Centre Congolais de L’Enfant et de las Famille (CCEF)

Reports The YEN Secretariat has also contributed to a report of the UN Office for West Africa on ways to address youth unemployment in West Africa. A UN Security Council Mission to West Africa in 2004 had asked UNOWA to "undertake a major collaborative effort with UN peace missions and the rest of the UN system in the subregion, as well as other partners, to devise a practical and concerted regional approach to the pressing problem of youth unemployment."

YWCA-Congo’s representatives have met Government officials to discuss the possibility of developing a NAP and are being activity supported by the ILO office in Kinshasa. News from the YEN Secretariat

The YEN Secretariat and the ILO have been actively involved in drafting the module on Youth and DDR for an Inter-agency project to develop international standards on Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) which will be adopted by all UN agencies and endorsed by the United Nations Development Group.

An addition to the YEN Secretariat February saw the strengthening of the YEN Secretariat with the arrival of Sara Spånt, Associate Expert on Youth Employment. She joins the YEN following two years working on employment promotion and serving as the ILO Youth Employment Focal Point in the ILO Sub regional Office for East Asia in Bangkok. Sara is being funded under the Swedish Junior Professional Officers Programme. Welcome Sara!

Partnerships UNHCR and the YEN have agreed to work together to produce a joint paper on youth unemployment in West Africa to identify potential linkages between the two institutions.

Exploring linkages between conflict and youth employment During the YEN High-Level Panel meeting in Washington, DC in September 2004 the Panel urged the World Bank and the ILO to develop a comprehensive framework on the link between youth employment, development and collective security as a basis for the promotion of the YEN strategy.

These new links focus on improving employment prospects for refugee youth in West Africa as one element in breaking the cycle of unemployment, poverty and conflict in the region.

The YEN Secretariat along with its partners at the Bank and the ILO are responding in a number of ways:

The YEN has developed a set of awareness raising posters and postcards which will be launched during High Level Panel meeting in Beijing (see page 1)

YEN poster campaign set to launch

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The campaign will have two linked objectives, first to raise awareness of the importance of youth employment at the national level and to provide advocacy tools and resources for youth groups and other partners to successfully lobby governments to develop effective policy responses to the challenge of youth employment, including the creation of National Action Plans.

News from Partners

GTZ supporting youth participation in Uganda’s PRSP YEN partner GTZ is supporting Ugandan youth organizations to contribute to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process in their country.

Secondly the campaign will seek to generate consensus at international meetings in the run up to the Five-Year Review of the Millennium Declaration of youth employment being an integral part of the Declaration and a key contribution to achieving all the Millennium Development Goals, specifically those related to poverty reduction. Please contact the YEN Secretariat if you are be interested in using some of these materials.

This project is part of a series activities developed by GTZ supporting the participation and empowerment to youth in national development strategies. These activities, which include the capacity building of youth organisations to participate in decision-making processes, were developed in-line with the final outcomes of the the XV Malente Symposiumand International Youth Dialogue in October 2004 in Lübeck which both were held under the banner of Youth Employment, Empowerment and Participation; Securing the Future

Visitors to the Secretariat In recent months the YEN has meet with Government delegations from Iran, Kenya and Ghana, with the South African Employers organizations and with representatives of the South African Umsobomvu Youth Fund.

In a country-wide evaluation the Ugandan youth organization “Foundation for Democracy and Conflict Resolution” will examine the participation of young people in the formulation and revision of the PRSP in Uganda. The outcomes of this review will be specific recommendations on how to strengthen the role and input of youth in the PRSP process.

Conversations have focused on the submission of National Action Plans on youth employment or progress reports toward the development of such plans by these counties. The YEN participated in Video Conference in March 2005 with the US Department of Labour (US-DOL) to discuss youth participation strategies and the linkages between the issues of child labour and youth employment. US-DOL are compiling a listing of youth participation resources so to better inform their work in this field. They would welcome any additions to this list that member of YEN may know of. Please send your submission to USDOL via the YEN Secretariat.

A representative of the “Foundation” will present the results of this initiative at the World Bank’s Civil Society Global Policy Forum which takes place 20-22 April 2005. International Youth Federation launches African youth employment initiative. In February 2004, an alliance of global organizations was launched to help young people in Africa develop skills and strengthen attitudes and behaviours to find and keep jobs.

YEN Secretary, Steven Miller met with representatives from USAID in Washington DC in February to discuss synergies and possible areas of joint collaboration.

IYF officially launched the “Alliance for African Youth Employability” with the US

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Agency for International Development (USAID), Nokia, and Lions Clubs International Foundation. Both USAID and Nokia have collectively committed over US$1.8 million to the initiative. Lions Clubs International will utilize its networks in Malawi and Rwanda to provide training, mentoring, and placements for the program participants, and to raise additional funds.

http://www.youthactionnet.org/yan_awards.

ImagineNations – supporting the aspirations of young people ImagineNations, a new initiative of YEN High-Level Panel, co-chair Rick Little, is a global alliance of social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, investors, financial institutions, global brands, media and organizations -- all working together with and for young people to inspire positive change in society. ImagineNations seeks to inform and influence policy and program development, particularly those related to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Over five years, the Alliance will promote employability and employment for more than 35,000 disadvantaged young people aged 14 to 29 living in rapidly urbanizing areas of South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda. Young people will receive not only job training, but also career counselling, direct placement in internships and jobs, and the skills to create their own businesses.

By partnering with investors, leading financial institutions and micro-finance organizations, ImagineNations is working to identify opportunities for young people within existing equity funds and loan portfolios that invest in entrepreneurship and small-scale enterprise—building on “what works” in investing and then taking it to scale. In some cases, new funds or structures may be required, but, wherever possible, the focus will be on existing infrastructure.

YEN supports Youth Action Net in profiling youth employability in Africa A dynamic website created by and for young people, YouthActionNet spotlights the vital role that youth play in leading positive change around the world. Launched in 2001 by the International Youth Foundation (IYF) and Nokia, YouthActionNet serves as a virtual gathering place for young people looking to connect with each other -- and with ideas for how to make a difference in their communities.

Through partnerships with commercial banks, private equity funds and investors, corporations, philanthropists, international organizations and local NGOs, ImagineNations is developing a network of widely available access points for young adults to capital and business coaching for their entrepreneurial ideas. Focusing initially on Indonesia, the Middle East and Zambia, these investment opportunities, offered through ImagineNations’ partners, will encourage savings and provide access to soft loans, loan-guarantees and fully marketbased loans and investments.

In March and April 2005, with support from the YEN and other partners including LEAP Africa, and Youth Development Network of South Africa this site celebrated African Youth Employability Month where recognition was given to young people in Africa who are helping themselves and other young men and women to build and enhance their own employability. Activities promoted by the site included an Essay Contest, a Youth Employability Toolkit, articles, featured profiles and projects, a survey and a quiz.

ImagineNations’ partners will provide young entrepreneurs with the financial resources, training, coaching, mentoring and business development services they need to start and expand micro-enterprises and small businesses.

YouthActionNet is also inviting nominations for its twice-annual awards scheme that aims to recognize the achievements of 20 outstanding young leaders around the world. Eligibly criteria and application information can be found at:

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youth. The campaign aims to use communications information both to increase visibility and the empowerment of youth. ICFTU issue global call to action against poverty 2005

IOE member organization supports career development for South African youth

ICFTU has declared 2005 a year of action in pushing governments to make progress in the fight against poverty. At the ICFTU Congress in December 2004, the ICFTU announced the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, backed by a wide-ranging coalition of groups, which are determined to get governments to take decisive action to reduce global poverty in 2005. The Global Call to Action Against Poverty was launched formally at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in January 2005. Fact sheets (including one on the linkage between “Decent Work” and poverty reduction) and campaign material can be found on ICFTU’s site.

IOE member organization, Business Unity for South Africa (BUSA) is supporting an innovative employability scheme for the country’s youth. Brightest Young Minds (BYM) is a voluntary association of students with a vision "to create a platform that showcases the potential of students and fast tracks their development for the benefit of South Africa". The association exposes students to business leaders and top companies in an environment that fosters innovation and facilitates initiative. Corporate sponsors of BYM include Sanlam, BHP Billiton and Microsoft. BYM hosts an annual conference to publicise the initiative and introduce the students to their corporate partners. Numerous follow-up contact sessions are held between small groups of delegates and representatives from organisations that support BYM. Two thirds of the students involved in BYM are black South Africans.

ICFTU-APRO Survey on Youth Employment in Asia and the Pacific ICFTU-APRO carried out a survey among its affiliates in 2004 to collect more detailed information on youth employment and examine the youth employment situation in the region. The survey examined youth unemployment trends, and national as well as trade union policies and actions on youth employment.

AFRICATIP meeting focuses on strengthening its work on youth employment

The survey outcomes, resulted in ICFTUAPRO placing youth employment at the core of its future actions, policies and strategies.

AFRICATIP (Association Régionale des Agences d'Exécution des Travaux d'Intérêt Public) is regional network of 15 national agencies that manage labour intensive public works programmes (AGETIP). These AGETIP’s, the first which was developed in Senegal, are geared toward working with urban authorities in labour-intensive urban development. A meeting of AFRICATIP in Bamako, Mali, 22-23 February, 2005, convened 60 participants from 15 African countries and experts from the ILO and the YEN Network, thereby bringing together international, regional and national actors. They explored strategies to better promote youth employment in the various AGETIP

Youth employment initiative proposed by the Euro-Med Youth Trade Union Network (EMYTUN) EMYTUN is launching a campaign to create awareness on the need to create job opportunities and more employment for youth living in Euro-Med region including Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The EMYTUN therefore believes Governments need to take immediate action in order to create more employment for

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programmes and evaluated components such as training and more specific beneficiary targeting to infuse their job creation with a more integrated, long term and durable perspective. In many countries, these targeted programmes are instrumental in promoting labour market attachment of young people, and at the same time, improving infrastructure. The meeting came up with a series of recommendations for national Agencies to follow. High-Level Panel member and former Director-General for the Senegalese AGETIP, Mr Magatte Wade, made a joint presentation at the meeting with YEN Secretary Steven Miller.

YES and YEN partner in support of the submission of National Action Plans on youth employment YEN and YES are collaborating in order to strengthen the substantive participation of young people in the development and implementation of National Action Plans in YEN lead countries and beyond through the in-country co-operation of their affiliates and partners. http://www.yesweb.org/docs/YES-YEN.pdf Following a successful YES Summit in Vera Cruz, Mexico in October 2004, which the YEN participated in, the Government of Kenya has agreed to host YES 2006 in Nairobi in October of 2006 with the support of UN Habitat.

Rotary International champions youth employment Following a decision in 2004 by the Board of Rotary International to encourage clubs to offer professional support to youth who start their own businesses and to support the YEN, Rotary has increased its work on youth employment:

UN-HABITAT youth

- Rotary pilot projects are underway, in partnership with the ILO, to assist local Rotary Clubs in Mauritius, Mexico, and Guatemala to design and implement schemes to provide computer skills training and on-the-job work attachments to young people with disabilities. - Rotary is exploring the potential role for Rotarians across the world to become mentors, trustees and funders for local youth entrepreneurship schemes, based on a model developed between the ILO and Youth Business International (YBI) in the Philippines - the Philippine Youth Business Foundation. - Rotary chapters are lending the YEN a hand in urging governments to submit progress reports on the development of National Action Plans on Youth Employment. (see page 1) - A young entrepreneur supported into business by the Rotary Club of FerneyVoltaire (France) made a star appearance in a curtain raiser video on youth employment during the opening of the 7th ILO European Regional Meeting, Budapest, 14-18 February 2005.

engagement

with

At UN-HABITATs Governing Council (4-8 April 2005) the draft report "UN-HABITAT and Youth: Strategy for Enhanced Engagement" was discussed. Twelve young people participated in the discussions and will help to form a committee that will advise the Agency on the formation of its interim youth consultative mechanism. This youth group also met for a youth forum on 3-4 April to generate inputs into the Governing Council Agenda. News from Youth IUSY Statement of Support for More and Better Jobs for Young People At its presidium meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil 22 – 25 January 2005 the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), agreed a statement on youth employment. In this statement IUSY, a member organization of the YENs Youth Consultative Group, urged governments to

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establish binding strategies to fight youth unemployment and informal work, underlining that governments have, regardless of levels of economic development, a responsibility to guarantee each young person access to decent work. IUSY also welcomed the planned discussion item on youth employment during the June International Labor Conference.

ICYO functions as an umbrella organization of youth NGOs in India. Its family consists of over 354 organizations spread in 122 districts of 22 states in India. [email protected]

Youth Employment Spark Project launched in the Philippines

The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the ILO are cooperating to increase children's participation and youth empowerment to eliminate child labour through the participation of the Scouts in the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO/IPEC).

Scouts partner with ILO on the issue of child labour.

The Youth Spark Awards Ceremony was held 7 February 2005 at the ILO Manila Auditorium where Mr. Werner Blenk, the ILO Subregional Director for South-East Asia and the Pacific, delivered opening remarks, along with National Youth Commission Chairman Bam Aquino and Robert Sagaun, Executive Director Philippine Resources for Sustainable Development.

The ILO and the Scout Movement will promote joint activities to equip young people with knowledge and understanding of globalization, global interdependence and solidarity, and to appreciate the meaning of responsibility, respect and commitment.

The Youth Employment Spark is an entrepreneurship scheme supported by the Dutch National Youth Council (DNYC) which is helping youth in Guyana, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, and Turkey to simultaneously start their own business under the guidance of a youth organisation and a mentor from the business community.

The ILO set of core labour standards including the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labour, the elimination of worst forms of child labour, and equal of opportunity and treatment at work, will be promoted by the Scouts in their educational programmes.

Through raising awareness and international cooperation, the project will spark new youth employment projects, partnerships, and funding opportunities.

YouthBank scheme gains momentum in the UK

Youth participation in South Asian conference of youth organizations

YouthBank is a UK-wide grantmaking initiative run by young people for young people. Local YouthBanks provide small grants to projects led by young people that are of benefit to the community and the young people taking part.

Indian Committee of Youth Organizations (ICYO) with World Bank support organized a ‘South Asian Conference of Youth Organizations’ from 16-18 March 2005 in New Delhi to discuss and formulate the plan of action for capacity building of youth serving NGOs.

Young people themselves make the decisions through a Board of young people about how local YouthBanks are managed and run. The board also direct the UK-wide programme.

ICYO invited 60 “Youth Leaders” from South Asian Countries in the Conference. HIV/AIDS and risky behaviors, employment, peace and conflict prevention and related issues where discussed in the Conference.

As well as giving out grants, YouthBank supports and trains young people to enable them, through grantmaking and related

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Acehnese children to be trained in practical skills Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies 10/03/2005

activities, to benefit other young people and the community, as well as themselves Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2005)

Career breakthrough Mentoring helps our young people Liverpool Leader (UK) 23/03/2005

Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) is an annual global event led by Youth Service America with the Global Youth Action Network. The goals of GYSD are: to build the capacity of organizations to promote youth participation, service, and learning; to educate the public, the media, and policymakers about the year-round contributions of youth around the world; to mobilize youth and adults to meet the needs of their communities through volunteering; and to share effective practices in youth services and civic engagement.

Calendar 2 to 4 May 2005: Youth Employment, Trends, Polices and New Approaches, Badboll, Germany 21-22 May 2005: YEN High-Level Panel Meeting, Beijing, China 12 to 16 May 2005: Latin America and Caribbean Youth Leadership Summit, Office of Sport for Development and Peace, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Media / Press activities

12 to 16 May 2005: Pacific Youth MDG Summit - UNDP Samoa

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia was interviewed by NHK World Radio (Japan) on youth employment whilst attending the symposium Globalization and the Future of Youth in Asia (Tokyo, December 2004)

31 May – 16 June 2005: International Labour Conference (including discussion on Youth Employment) 7 – 10 June 2005: Instituto Ethos, 2005 International Conference - Business and Social Responsibility. São Paulo, Brazil

Interview with ILO Brazil Director Armand Pereira by UNDP Brazil on the ILOs role and activities in the country.

6-8 July 2005: G8 Summit, Gleneagles, Scotland

Justin Sykes of the YEN Secretariat was interviewed by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) for the March 2005 edition of their global publication ‘Our World News’ which will be online shortly at: http://www.wagggsworld.org

30 July - 08 August 2005: 3rd World Youth Congress, Stirling, Scotland. September 2005: ILO Subregional Office for Southern Africa (Harare) Tripartite Meeting on Youth Employment (TBC) 14-16 September 2005: Five-Year Review of the Millennium Declaration by the UN General Assembly, New York

Press round up Rules on young workers Straits Times (Singapore) 21/01/2005

October 28 – 1 November 2005 - African Development Forum V: Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Global youth jobless rate a warning: ILO The Financial Express (India) 27/01/2005

6 October 2005: "Evaluation of the World Programme of Action for Youth" UN Headquarters, New York.

Speakers in round-table discussion on employment stress urgent need - to develop active national policies focusing on youth i-Newswire.com (Int.) 11/02/2005

We welcome both feedback and contributions. We would like to hear from you at [email protected] and encourage you to share this Newsletter with colleagues and friends.

Youth to learn principles of business with experts of International Labour Organisation Turan Info Agency (Azerbaijan) 03/03/2005

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