Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Digital Economy
Announcement in Brief
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Programme Rationale
While considerable progress has been made over the past two decades in reducing poverty, alleviating hunger, reducing inequality and improving outcomes for many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, such progress has been uneven (United Nations, 2017c). The Report of the UN Economist Network for the UN 75th Anniversary: Shaping the Trends of Our Time (2020), therefore, highlights inequalities as one of the five megatrends affecting economic, social and environmental outcomes, and asserts further efforts to be made to attain an inclusive, sustainable and equitable future1.
Inequality has not only persisted, but in many instances widened, with substantial numbers of people, including youth, excluded from full participation in economic, political and social life. The situation of young people from groups considered vulnerable or marginalized—including indigenous people, persons with disabilities, migrants and refugees, people living in poverty, and girls and young women—underlines the fact that the 2030 Agenda will not be a success unless it is based on the ideals of inclusiveness, leaving no one behind and shared prosperity2.
Africa has the youngest population in the world with more than 400 million people aged between the ages of 15 to 35 years. It is this young population who will drive the future of the continent. Their success or failure will also be that of the continent as a whole.
The African region today is home to a labour force that is almost 500 million strong. However, by 2030, the size of the labour force will have grown to 676 million, a staggering 40 per cent increase, driven by the rapidly growing number of youth labour market entrants3. Youth unemployment and underemployment are fundamental development challenges globally, but particularly in Africa, which is undergoing a demographic transition. Africa’s youth are its biggest asset and the drivers of sustainable economic growth4.
Objectives
The overarching objective of this course is to provide mid and senior level officials and decision makers with the necessary skills, tools, and mechanisms to harness the potential of the digital economy to alleviate youth unemployment and foster economic growth in Africa.
The specific objectives are to :
- Take full stock of the youth unemployment issue in Africa, along with its wide range of consequences for the achievement of SDGs.
Appraise the current trends and dynamics in this unemployment and, ultimately, the urgency of action.
Review existing compacts and initiatives in the region for addressing youth unemployment, including the strengths and shortcomings of these various initiatives
Explore the theoretical potential of digital economies and entrepreneurship in alleviating youth unemployment in the region
Review the conditions required for countries to harness this potential from digital economies. These conditions include efforts to address gaps in skills and infrastructure.
Propose a model to support youth during their School-to-work-transitions.
Discuss how to develop evidence-based youth policies that leaves no youth behind; foster entrepreneurship to expand job opportunities for youth; promote an enabling environment for youth employment and entrepreneurship in the digital economy.
