NEW YORK (ILO News) - Young women and men joined the President of the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Governments of Sri Lanka and Portugal, and key youth employment stakeholders at the UN Headquarters in New York on 16 July 2018 to celebrate the annual World Youth Skills Day under the theme “Youth Skills for Sustainability and Innovation”.
Today, over 66 million young women and men are unemployed. Nearly 145 million youth are working, yet living in poverty. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning are impacting the world of work. The event provided a unique opportunity for more than 200 participants from youth organizations, civil society, private sector, governments and beyond to engage in a discussion on how to leverage innovation and emerging technologies to boost youth employment and how skills development systems can support youth in building a better and sustainable future.