The dynamics of youth employment and its supporting policy framework

Background

The International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of the Government of Canada and the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies are planning a Youth Employment Research Forum to discuss issues linked to the future of youth employment. The Forum will bring together researchers from across the globe, who are advancing the frontiers of knowledge on youth employment and contributing to the evidence base. Tagging to the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024, the research themes selected for discussion at the Research Forum have in common their exploration of “the dynamics of youth employment and its supporting policy framework”. This means building the evidence base on what has changed in the realm of youth employment over the past two decades to help explain the current and future circumstances of labour market entry and job outcomes for young people.

Tuesday, 5 December 2023

9:00–9:30          Arrival and registration

        Opening Session 

• Sangheon Lee, Director, Employment Policy, Job Creation and Livelihoods Department, ILO
• Anika Altaf, Executive Director, INCLUDE Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies

                           Presentation of agenda 

• Sara Elder, Head, Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

10:00–10:30      Icebreaker/introductions 

Moderator: Sara Elder, Head, Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

10:30–11:00      Coffee break and group photo 

SESSION 1: The socioeconomic landscapes of youth employment: What is holding youth back?

11:00–12:45       Parallel sessions 

Group A 

• Fatma Younis, Exploring the Macroeconomics Determinants of Women Employment in the MENA region in the 2000’s
• Kausik Gupta, Indignity of Labor: Role of Occupational Prestige in Unemployment
• Federica Bianchi, The Impact of Organized Crime on Decent Jobs for Youth: Evidence from Italy

Moderator: Kee Beom Kim, Macro-Economic and Employment Policies Specialist, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

Group B 

• Luis Pinedo, Beyond education: Why young Syrian women do not work in Türkiye? (virtual)
• Evelyn Vezza, Locked in poverty? The case of youth in vulnerable urban settlements
• Grace Mueller, Mortgaged futures: fractured livelihoods and youth debts during COVID-19
• Kate Brockie, A time-use approach to understanding young people not in employment, education or training in India

Moderator: Karina Levina, Technical Officer, Policy & Knowledge Sharing on Employment Issues, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

12:45–14:00       Lunch

SESSION 2: The future of work / Future is Africa

14:00–16:30       Parallel sessions (with coffee break at 15:30-15:50) 

Group A. Future of work influences on youth labour markets 

• Namita Datta, Working Without Borders The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work (virtual)
• Hilda Jacob Mwakatumbula, The Multi-Apping Dilemma: Safety and Earnings among Tanzanian Platform Workers
• Oguz Basol, The Effect of Digitalization on Youth Unemployment for EU Countries: Treat or Threat?
• Balwant Singh Mehta, Impact of Digital Technologies on Labour Market: A Case of Indian Youth

Moderator: Mauricio Dierckxsens, Employment and Labour Market Specialist, ILO Office for Andean CountriesGroup B. The future is Africa: Understanding constraints and promoting a positive African Youthquake 

• Sara Mercandalli and Pierre Girard, From family to markets. How institutional determinants of rural youth transitions have changed in Senegal and Zambia over time (virtual)
• Joel Otieno, Waithood Vs Hustling: Lessons on Youth’s Quest for Dignified and Fulfilling Work in Sub-Saharan Africa (virtual)
• Yorokee Kapimbua, Policy responses to graduate underemployment in Southern Africa: A comparative policy analysis
• Agnieszka Kazimierczuk, Towards Inclusive Low-Carbon Transitions for youth in Africa

Moderator: Jonas Bausch, Youth Employment Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Africa

16:30–17:15       Keynote address: Louise Fox, Development Economist and non-resident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution (virtual) 

17:15–18:15       Panel dialogue: The state of research on youth employment: For who, what and how? 

• Louise Fox, Development Economist and non-resident Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution (virtual)
  
• Eszter Sandor, Senior Research Manager, Eurofound
  
• Marco Andreu, Deputy Head of Asia Section, Programme Manager Nepal and India, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
  
• Helen Osborne, Youth Employment Specialist (Consultant), Asian Development Bank (virtual)

Moderator: Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Chief, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO18:15–19:00          Reception 

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

9:00–9:15           Recap of Day 1 and introduction to agenda for Day 2 

• Sara Elder, Head, Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO
  

SESSION 3: Evidence building and “what works” in youth employment policy and programming

         Parallel sessions (please note different Zoom links for Group A and Group B)

Group A 

• Hitomi Ho, Youth agripreneurship and pathways of change Results and lessons learned from Guatemala and Uganda
• Ian Nicole Generalao, The Impact of Technical and Vocational Education and Training on Youth Employment Outcomes in the Philippines
• Ellen Vanderhoven, Youth employment outcomes of the Mexican Model of Dual Training: Examining the role of context and inequality

Moderator: Chiara Curcio, Technical Officer, Youth Employment Promotion, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

• Tsega Gebrekristos Mezgebo, Empirical Review of Youth Employment Policies in Ethiopia
• Carlos Gamito, The impact of providing vocational training to young men on labour outcomes and attitudes towards migration in northern Guinea-Bissau
• Ariane De Lannoy, Design and implementation of a “Basic Package of Support for NEET youth in South Africa”: an adaptation of the EU Youth Guarantee to local needs and labour market realities

Moderator: Niall O’Higgins, Senior Employment Research & Technical Specialist, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

       Coffee break

11:30–13:00      Youth and social dialogue 

• Rachel Aleks, Hero or villain? A cohort and generational analysis of how youth attitudes towards unions have changed over time
• Maria Mexi, Social Dialogue With and For Youth: Challenges and Opportunities in the Evolving World of Work

Moderator: Michael Watt, Technical Officer, Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV)

13:00–14:30       Lunch break

14:30–15:30       Report presentation: The impact of active labour market policies on youth: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis 

•  Michael Weber, Senior Economist, World Bank (opening remarks, virtual)
• Chiara Curcio, Technical Officer, Youth Employment Promotion, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO
• Jonas Bausch, Youth Employment Specialist, ILO Regional Office for Africa

Moderator: Susana Puerto Gonzalez, Senior Youth Employment Specialist, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

       Coffee break

16:00–17:00       Interactive session on AI and youth employment: challenges and opportunities 

• Sunila Rajan, Strategic Planner, Publicis conseil

Moderator: Sara Elder, Head, Employment Analyses & Economic Policies Unit, Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, ILO

17:00–17:15       Closing session

Recordings