Today concluded the two-day conference, “Go sustainable, be responsible! European civil society on the road to Rio +20” held by the European Economic and Social Committee. The aims of the meeting were to prepare for this summer’s sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit, and to voice European civil society’s position on the topic.

This conference comes at a crucial time for the EU, which has set itself a legally binding goal of reducing emissions by 20% by 2020, and has just recently prepared a draft of a resolution for 40% reduction by 2030.  Climate change and emissions, however, are just one part of sustainable development.  Speakers and workshops highlighted the importance of other aspects, including poverty eradication, sustainable consumption and production, and green jobs.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, closing speaker and European Youth Forum Board Member, congratulated decision makers on the outcomes of the conference, but called for further inclusion of youth and more ambitious steps forward. “We must make sure that young people are not just picking up pieces, but involved,” he said.

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!