This day was proposed by Sri Lanka and approved by the UN in 2014 as a way to claim the need to develop skills and raise awareness among countries about the importance of investing in training to, above all, encourage employment and promote gender equality in the social and labor spheres of our young people in a world where youth unemployment currently has a rate of 22.4% in 2020.
We are tired of constantly and negatively categorising youth and new generations. An example is the NEET generation (in 2016 there were 259 million young people classified as NEETs), which has been much talked about in recent decades… This is nothing more than an example of the frustration of young people who do not lack motivation or these skills, but who do not find an option for the future, perhaps due to the formative and educational weaknesses of deficient educational systems that encourage the development of these skills.
That is why at Connectors-Plus we always want to encourage our young people, you, to take action to improve your future through training, learning skills and competencies that you will only achieve if you embark on experiences that go beyond your horizon. In today’s world, where competition is overwhelming, it is more necessary than ever to go out, study, work and develop your future by obtaining new skills and higher qualifications at all levels.
This year, the theme of Youth Skills Day, as it could not be otherwise, will focus on “the talent of a resilient youth in the era of COVID-19 and beyond”. This situation is a test of force majeure for all, but together we must face it by betting everything on you.
| United Nations World Organization World Youth Day 2020 is being celebrated in a challenging context. Lockdown measures and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the global closure of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, threatening the continuity of training development. It is estimated that around 70% of enrolled youth have been affected by school closures. According to the survey of TVET institutions, which draws on data collected jointly by UNESCO, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, distance learning has become the most common way of imparting knowledge, not without certain difficulties regarding, among other things, the adaptation of curricula, the preparation of apprentices and trainers, connectivity or assessment and certification processes. Before the current crisis, young people aged 15-24 were three times more likely than adults to be unemployed and often faced a prolonged period of transition from school to work. In post-COVID-19 societies, as young people are called upon to contribute to the recovery effort, they will need to be equipped with the right skills to successfully manage challenges and the resilience to adapt to future disruptions. |


