Africa Progress Report calls for big push on education

Urgent action is needed to tackle a “twin crisis” in access to education and the quality of teaching, according to the 2012 Africa Progress Report, Jobs, Justice and Equity: Seizing Opportunities in Times of Global Change, which was launched on Friday at the World Economic Forum on Africa, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “With 30 million [...]

Without skills, no lasting spring for Arab youth

Arab countries must provide the right skills for their large youth population if the Arab Spring is to have lasting effects, according to the 2010/2011 Arab Knowledge Report, a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, which was launched in Dubai last week. The crucial role of [...]

The struggle to learn skills in the city

UNICEF’s flagship annual report, launched today, focuses on the lives of marginalized children in urban areas. The State of the World’s Children 2012 finds that children in urban environments are often denied their right to education, leaving many without the skills they need to find a good job. Almost half of the world’s children now [...]

Who is responsible for developing youth skills?

What role should the private sector play in developing the skills of young people? That’s one of the questions likely to come up at two international events on the theme of our upcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report – how skills development can improve marginalized young people’s opportunities for decent jobs and better [...]

World Youth Report puts focus on skills

As youth unemployment figures continue to rise in many parts of the world, the need for young people to have the skills that employers want is drawing more and more attention – not least from the young themselves. Their voices can be heard in the latest UN World Youth Report, “Youth Employment: youth perspectives on [...]

Can the ‘German model’ bridge the skills gap elsewhere?

By Léna Krichewsky, research officer, Education for All Global Monitoring Report What do all those experts and politicians mean when they point to the “German model” as a kind of magic recipe to solve the problem of youth unemployment by improving the skills of the young? The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced a few days [...]

Help us picture the future!

We’re running an artwork contest for young people on the theme of youth, skills and work – the focus of our forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report. The winner’s work will be used in the report. The contest is open to those aged 18 to 24, and the deadline is 1 April 2012. [...]

Youth jobs crisis pushes EU to address ‘skills mismatch’

Hard on the heels of Davos, where the “skills gap” was the subject of several sessions, the European summit on Monday showed that high unemployment is concentrating EU leaders’ minds on improving training for young people – the focus of our forthcoming 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Youth unemployment, which is high right [...]

‘The future we want’ post-2015: Sustainable development goals

By Pauline Rose, director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report In his speech to the General Assembly this week, the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, presented his action agenda for the next five years. His speech highlighted many important priorities both in the final push to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, [...]

At Davos, the ‘skills gap’ is on the guest list

As the world’s movers and shakers head to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the International Labour Organization has issued a gloomy report on employment – just in time to focus minds at Davos even more sharply on the global jobs crisis. “The jobs crisis continues unabated, with [...]