President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare open this year’s Global Youth Employment Forum, which opens today in Abuja, the nation’s capital, to discuss how to ensure more and better quality jobs for young people.
The forum, organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in collaboration with the Federal Government, will be attended by more than 200 youths from around the world.
The forum is holding outside Geneva, Switzerland, for the first time after it began.
It will also be attended by ILO’s Director General Guy Ryder.
Organisers of the event explained that with 59 million young people unemployed worldwide and 136 million in poverty, youth employment has become one of the most pressing issues facing the world of work.
The ILO said during the three-day discussions, the young participants will aim to agree on recommendations that will advance the ILO’s Resolution on the “youth employment crisis: a call for action,” which was adopted at the International Labour Conference in June 2012.
It explained that the Resolution calls for immediate, targeted and renewed action to tackle youth employment crisis.
Participants will also discuss how to accelerate progress on youth employment-related targets and youth-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Other topics for discussion are: gender equality, rights, the rural economy, youth representation and the opportunities and challenges facing young people in their search for decent work.
As part of the three-day forum, 15 young entrepreneurs will present their solutions to some issues in an exhibition showcasing their projects.
Government, employers’ and workers’ representatives, academics and members of multilateral organisations, regional institutions, foundations, civil society and the private sector will also take part in the forum.
Ryder, who is visiting Nigeria for the first time, is also expected to visit President Buhari and interact with the nation’s Labour community at a dinner to be oragnised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
