Two year into the pandemic, the struggle to enhance young people’s transition to the labour market is high on the agenda with a lot of work ahead - that was the spirit of the joint follow-up online conference of CESI Youth, the European Youth Forum and StartNet. You can watch the event recording here and the Twitter thread here.
The European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit paid tribute to new challenges with regard the overshadowing war against Ukraine, continuous struggles for quality education, employment and mental health of young people. Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Kim Van Sparrentak highlighted the need to fight risen inequalities, to engage young people especially during the European Year of Youth 2022 and to ban unpaid internships.
The investment in youth, their vocational guidance, future skills and mobility is another key concern of MEP and Chair of the Employment Committee Dragos Pislaru, who is the rapporteur for the recent Youth Resolution of the European Parliament.
While Eurofound painted a detailed portrait of an uneven recovery (presentation attached), CESI Youth, the Portuguese Youth Council, ETUC Youth and StartNet gave concrete suggestions for better youth participation (StartNet Youth), quality jobs, social inclusion and collective impact collaboration of all stakeholders. The surveyed audience underlined mental health, the access to employment and apprenticeships as main issues for young people since the pandemic.
The Youth Resolution and the European Year of Youth 2022 provide a window of opportunity to have young people, their education, employment and societal contribution on the top of the agenda and to have them the decision table. In a context of multiple crises, their empowerment is more important than ever, also for generations to come and the future of the continent.
