Welcome to the United Nations
Strategies for Creating Urban Youth Employment: Solutions for Urban Youth
in Africa
21-25 June 2004, Nairobi, Kenya
Organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development in collaboration with UN-HABITAT and the Youth Employment Network
Venue: Conference Centre
United Nations Complex, Gigiri
Time: 09:30 - 18:00
Aide-Mémoire
Summary of the Proceedings of the Meeting
Background
The unemployment of young people is a pressing economic and social issue in both developed and developing countries alike. The ILO estimates that the 74 million young women and men who are unemployed throughout the world represent roughly two-fifths of all unemployed persons globally. In general, young people are two to three times more likely than adults to be unemployed. Yet, the severity of the youth unemployment situation is understated because many of these young employed people are underemployed. In many economies, young women are particularly disadvantaged because they have higher rates of unemployment than young men. Of the young people who are employed, many are required to work long hours for low pay, often in the informal economy. An estimated 59 million young people between 15 and 17 years of age are currently engaged in hazardous forms of work.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the share of youth unemployment in total unemployment is very high, reaching as much as nearly 80 per cent of total unemployed in some countries. In the 1990s both sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa recorded the world’s highest youth unemployment and total unemployment rates. In countries where data are available, it is estimated that only 5 to 10 per cent of new entrants into the labour market can be absorbed by the formal economy, while the bulk of new jobs is generated by the informal economy. Evidence from studies in the 1990s in various sub-Saharan countries show that the informal economy is by far the main source of employment in urban areas in most countries. In countries such as Mali, Uganda and Zambia, over 70 per cent of urban workers were informally employed. The percentage of women in informal employment was particularly high in the countries sampled; in many cases, women dominated the lower echelons in the sector.
Sustained unemployment can make youth vulnerable to social exclusion, as youth who enter the workforce with limited job prospects, underdeveloped skills, and inadequate education are most at risk for long-term unemployment, intermittent spells of unemployment and low-wage employment throughout their working lives. Furthermore, youth unemployment and poor jobs contribute to high levels of poverty. Focusing employment creation efforts on youth could help reverse these trends, and spell the start of active and productive workforce participation and the promotion of social integration.
In the Millennium Declaration adopted by the General Assembly in September 2000, Heads of State and Government resolved to “develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work.” In pursuit of these goals, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, together with the heads of the World Bank and the International Labour Organization, launched the Youth Employment Network (YEN). The Secretary-General convened a High-level Panel of the Youth Employment Network, comprised of twelve eminent persons drawn from leadership positions in private industry, civil society and economic policy, to advise him on strategies and policies to achieve the Millennium Development Goal for youth employment. The High Level Panel has met twice since the Youth Employment Network was launched and has developed a set of recommendations on youth employment, calling for a global alliance and a guide to action for achieving decent work for young people. A permanent Secretariat of the Youth Employment Network has been established and is located in the ILO in Geneva.
Along with other United Nations organizations supporting the Secretary-General’s initiative for youth employment, UN-HABITAT is working to devise strategies that identify areas for youth participation and ensure the active engagement of young people in addressing issues related to sustainable urbanization. The Global Partnership Initiative on Urban Youth Development in Africa is one such project being developed by UN-HABITAT that will focus specifically on urban youth at risk and urban youth employment. This expert group meeting and youth roundtable is organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat in collaboration with UN-HABITAT and the YEN Secretariat, and will bring together experts in youth employment from different regions of the world, as well as young people from African countries to address the challenges of urban youth employment and young people’s hopes for decent employment and reduced social
Objectives
In light of the above, the objectives of this meeting are to assess and discuss the impact of social funds, particularly for poverty reduction, drawing upon the experience of the World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions. In this regard, the meeting will also discuss the role of targeting and institutional development to improve the performance of social funds. In addition, the meeting will also draw upon a selection of national and regional experiences with social funds and the lessons learned in order to gain better insight into and understanding of how social funds can be improved to better contribute to the achievement of the poverty reduction goal of the Millennium Declaration.
The youth roundtable and expert group meeting have the overarching objective of supporting the goals and objectives of the Youth Employment Network.
In particular, youth roundtable will seek to:
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Facilitate dialogue and networking among young people to promote greater awareness and understanding of youth employment issues in general, and urban youth employment in particular;
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Involve young people in policy discussions relating to the formulation and implementation of national strategies to address urban youth employment, with particular reference to urban youth unemployment in Africa;
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Build the capacity of young people to participate in this and other policy discussions relating to urban youth employment.
The expert group meeting will seek to:
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Identify and review trends in urban youth employment;
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Identify obstacles to creating jobs for young people in urban areas, particularly in Africa;
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Share regional/national experiences and develop new approaches in addressing urban youth employment, including lessons learned;
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Share knowledge and good practices for achieving decent and productive employment for young people in Africa;
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Provide policy recommendations for the creation of employment for young people in urban areas, particularly in Africa.
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Examine the role which the United Nations system, in particular, can play in these processes.
Papers
Papers
Richard Curtain
Strategies for creating employment for urban youth,
with specific reference to Africa
Richard Curtain
Indicators and measures of youth unemployment:
Major limitations and alternatives
Makha Dado Sarr
Poverty Reduction Strategy and Youth Employment in Senegal
Presentations
Haroon Bhorat
Youth employment issues in post-apartheid South Africa (powerpoint)
Richard Curtain
Employment strategies for urban youth (powerpoint)
Eniwet Kakuwa
Youth enterprise development and youth employment experiences and
lessons from Commonwealth Africa (powerpoint)
Wamuyu Mahinda
The challenges facing youth entrepreneurs in Nairobi (powerpoint)
Gora Mboup
Measurement/indicators of youth employment (powerpoint)
Steven Miller
Decent work for young people (powerpoint)
Puneetha Sagar Palakurthi
Productive engagement of youth in fulfilling the Millennium
Development Goals (powerpoint)
UN-HABITAT
Youth employment and urban renewal (powerpoint)
List of Participants
Chair
Mr. Magatte Wade, Member, Secretary-General's High-level Panel, Youth Employment Network
Invited Speakers
Ambassador Nancy Kirui, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and
Social Services, Government of Kenya
Mr. Eng. E.K. Mwongera, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Housing, Government of Kenya
Participants
Mr. Elijah Ochieng Achoch, Head, Employment Division, Ministry of Labour and
Human Resource Development, Government of Kenya
Mr. Elijah Agevi, Intermediate Technology Development Group, Citywide Integrated Youth
Development Centres, Nairobi
Mr. Juma Assiago, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Mr. Haroon Bhorat, Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town
Mr. Richard Curtain, Professional Associate, National Institute for Governance, University of Canberra, Australia
Mr. Jean Fares, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Niyambura Githagui, The World Bank Country Office, Kenya
Mr. Mohamed Halfani, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Ms. Alodia Ishengoma, ILO Office Tanzania
Mr. Ernest Kakuwa, Commonwealth Youth Programme Africa Centre, University of Zambia
Mr. Gathecha Kamau, YES Kenya, Nairobi
Mr. Gabriel Kinaiya, City Council of Nairobi
Ms. Wamuyu Mahinda, General Manager, Kenya Youth Business Trust
Mr. Gideon Richard Mandara, Dar-es Salaam City Council, Tanzania
Mr. Mischi Matsahu, Director of Social Services, City Council of Nairobi
Ms. Verdiana Mashingia, Tanzanian High Commission
Mr. Gora Mboup, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Mr. Steven Miller, Secretary, Youth Employment Network Secretariat, Geneva
Mr. Shaib Muhamed, Ministry of Youth, Women and Children, Government of Kenya
Mr. Kizito L. Nkwabi, Kinondoni Municipal Council, Tanzania
Mr. Fortunatus Okwiri, UNDP/Kenya, Nairobi
Ms. Puneetha S. Palakurthi, Youth Employment Summit Campaign
Mr. George Petit, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Ms. Francesca Pezzi, Glocal Forum, Kenya
Mr. Roy Rajdhar, Senior Consultant, Umsobomvu Youth Fund, South Africa
Mr. Kees van der Ree, InFocus Programmes/SEED, ILO, Geneva
Mr. Moses Ngware, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis(KIPPRA)
Mr. Manabendra Nath Sanyal, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust, India
Mr. Makha Dado Sarr, Former Deputy Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa
Mr. Bob Sinclair, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Ms. Samantha Stern, Youth Development Network, South Africa
Mr. Richard Street, Executive Director, Youth Business International
Ms. Magdalene Williams, South African High Commission
Mr. Nicholas Yu, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
Secretariat for Expert Group Meeting and Youth Roundtable
Mr. Donald Lee, Ms. Sarangerel Erdembileg, Ms Julie Larsen [DESA, New York]
Mr. Justin Sykes, [Youth Employment Network Secretariat, Geneva]
Mr. Sabromonia Ananthakrishnan, Ms. Mutinta A. Munyati, Ms. Esther Naibei, Mr. Paul Wambua, Ms. Carol Osundwa, Ms. Carol Maina Murugi, Ms. Doreen Bwisa, Ms. Roseelyn Kamau, Ms. Grace Wanyonyi, Ms. Wandia Seaforth [UN-HABITAT, Nairobi]
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