World Youth Skills Day is a United Nations designated event dedicated to the importance of equipping young people around the world with essential skills for employment, work, and entrepreneurship. The events of the day provide an opportunity for dialogue between young people, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy makers, technical and vocational education and training institutions, and development partners.
WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY HISTORY
The United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day in 2014. The day was marked to achieve the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030, which is a part of Sustainable Development Goal 4 that urges to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY 2021 SIGNIFICANCE
The Education 2030 mission devotes a major part of its attention to technical and vocational skills development, specifically regarding access to affordable quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Through this initiative, the United Nations urges its member countries to provide technical and vocational skills to young people for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship
The World Youth Skills Day also promotes the elimination of gender inequality and ensured access of resources to the vulnerable. According to the UN, it is the TVET’s responsibility to address several demands of an economic, social and environmental nature by helping youth and adults develop the skills they need for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.
They are also required to promote an equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and support transitions to green economies and environmental sustainability through this change.
WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY 2021 THEME
This year, the World Youth Skills Day will once again take place amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The United Nations will pay tribute to the resilience and creativity of youth through the pandemic and its subsequent crisis.
The event will take stock of how TVET systems have adapted to the pandemic and recession, and participants will think of how those systems can engage in the recovery of the damage. This year’s event will also come up with priorities young people should adopt for the post-Covid-19 world.
