Strategies for Youth Unemployment & Sustainable Urban Development: World Urban Forum 9, Study notes of Sustainable Development

Download Strategies for Youth Unemployment & Sustainable Urban Development: World Urban Forum 9 and more Study notes Sustainable Development in PDF only on Docsity! World Urban Forum 9, February 2018 Youth empowerment and sustainable development: Why is it important to address youth unemployment in the New Urban Agenda? Sandra Kundeya University of Sheffield Executive summary Youth unemployment is one of the pressing development challenges resulting from urbanisation. As more people, economic and social activities are increasingly concentrated in cities, challenges in terms of lack of access to sustainable livelihoods, decent jobs and poverty are emerging. Unemployment is common amongst the youth who despite of being most of the urban dwellers, are excluded in decision making processes, are underestimated and suffer from poverty. In light of these challenges, the New Urban Agenda1 (NUA) was approved by more than 160 nations at the UN-Habitat III meeting in 2016 held in Quito to establish a global policy framework for a more sustainable and inclusive urban development. This brief discusses the actionable solutions identified at the World Urban Forum 9 held in Kuala Lumpur in February 2018 - the first major gathering to discuss NUA since Quito - to unlock employment opportunities for young people in cities. Central to the discussions was the need to foster an entrepreneurial culture among the youth and ensure their participation in all stages of the decision-making process. Finally, this brief will provide recommendations for the effective implementation of NUA. Why is it important to address youth unemployment? In several cities in developing countries the majority of urban dwellers are young people and most of them are unemployed. Evidence shows a sharp increase in the population of young people that the world has ever seen, with a record of 1,8 billion youths between the ages 10-242 . An expected figure of 1 billion youth in need of jobs is expected to World Urban Forum 9, February 2018 enter the job market by 2020 and only 40% of these will able to get employment from the current jobs3. With these high figures of youths residing in the city, not addressing the issue of unemployment, means that the promises of the 2030 agenda to reduce poverty and creating safe cities as stipulated in the SDG 11 will never be a reality. In order to make cities sources of solutions rather than problems, tackling youth unemployment should be prioritised. Global data shows that 76,46 million youth were unemployed during the economic crisis in 2009, while this figure fell to 73,67 million in 20144. In 2018 the number of unemployed youth is expected to rise to 73,71 and fall slightly to 73,31 million in 20194. At the same time the global youth unemployment rate increased from 12,9% in 2009 to 13% in 2014 and settled at 13,2% from 2015 onwards and it is projected to remain stable up to 20195. These disturbing figures show why it is even more important to prioritise youth employment in implementing sustainable urbanisation. In many developing countries prolonged unemployment is conducive to higher levels of poverty and can lead to social unrest. For example, in countries like Zimbabwe with the unemployment rate at 95% and Burkina Faso with 77%6 unemployed young people often find comfort in alcohol and drug abuse. During the night they engage in prostitution, theft, robbery and team up to form violent gangs. In Somalia, youth driven by poverty and joblessness turned to piracy, something that was estimated to have cost the global economy some US$ 6 billion7. With all these adverse situations created by joblessness, it is time to place the youth at the forefront in development initiatives. The magnitude of the current youth unemployment crisis calls for urgent action. WUF9: Strategies to challenge and overcome youth unemployment The sessions related to the urban youth at WUF9 focused on the actions to reduce the global challenge of youth unemployment in cities. The following strategies were identified as essential to tackle youth unemployment. 1. Youth engagement in economic development The voices of the youth are important in building sustainable cities and should be engaged in policy making. Young people should be consulted because they are able to