Today, the United Nations Focal Point on Youth released the 2011 World Youth Report, which explores the transition of young people from education and training into the labour market. The European Youth Forum was actively involved in discussing the concept and submitting input for the Report.

This year’s World Youth Report is special for a number of reasons. For the first time, it is based on the young people themselves, through youth representatives who contributed their thoughts and ideas on an e-discussion. These young people shared experiences and recommendations for preparing for, entering, and remaining active in the workforce, structured through weekly topics that now represent each chapter of the Report. This is also the first time that the World Youth Report has been interactive, allowing readers to engage in youth employment issues online.

Today, the United Nations Focal Point on Youth released the 2011 World Youth Report, which explores the transition of young people from education and training into the labour market. The report found that young people are most worried about the lack of job opportunities, insufficient government investment, and the quality and relevance of their education. They feel that some higher education is "overly theoretical" rather than giving them practical skills that are vital to getting hired in the work force. Young people also often feel that they are the last to be hired, and the first to be dismissed creating many instabilities in the workplace. 

Not all of the report is as pessimistic. The world's youth are hopeful that new technologies, the "green" industry, and entrepreneurship will provide opportunities for jobs in the future. “Today we have the largest generation of young people the world has ever known,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the report’s introduction. "We need to pull the UN system together like never before to support a new social contract of job-rich economic growth. Let us start with young people.”

This year's World Youth Report is special because for the first time, the findings are straight from youth themselves, who were able to contribute their thoughts, ideas and experiences on an online platform using social media. In this, the European Youth Forum was actively involved in discussing the concept and submitting input for the report.

Read the report online today!

After successful cooperation working closely with Eurodesk, the European Youth Forum is pleased to announce that the much anticipated pages for the structured dialogue with young people are now available on the European Youth Portal.

Split into two levels, the new European page provides links to the latest political outcomes of the process, whereas national level pages allow young people and stakeholders to access their countries' consultation reports and to contact their National Working Groups.

Now in its second 18-month cycle, the structured dialogue is a space for young people and policy makers to discuss and feed into EU youth policy at both national and European levels together.

The overall priority of the current cycle is youth participation in democratic life, with the Danish Presidency currently focusing on aspects of creativity and innovation in this area.

For more information on the structured dialogue, visit our page here.

After successful cooperation working closely with Eurodesk, the European Youth Forum is pleased to announce that the much anticipated pages for the structured dialogue with young people are now available on the European Youth Portal.  

  

Split into two levels, the new European page provides links to the latest political outcomes of the process, whereas national level pages allow young people and stakeholders to access their countries' consultation reports and to contact their National Working Groups. Now in its second 18-month cycle, the structured dialogue is a space for young people and policy makers to discuss and feed into EU youth policy at both national and European levels together. The overall priority of the current cycle is youth participation in democratic life, with the Danish Presidency currently focusing on aspects of creativity and innovation in this area.