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BBC Online:
World Bank urges boost for young. Read
story
Developing countries
which invest in better education, healthcare, and job training
for their record numbers of young people between the ages of
12 and 24 years of age, could produce surging economic growth
and sharply reduced poverty, according to a new World Bank
report launched at the Bank's Annual Meetings in
Singapore.
With 1.3 billion
young people now living in the developing world-the
largest-ever youth group in history-the report says there has
never been a better time to invest in youth because they are
healthier and better educated than previous generations, and
they will join the workforce with fewer dependents because of
changing demographics.
However, failure to
seize this opportunity to train them more effectively for the
workplace, and to be active citizens, could lead to widespread
disillusionment and social
tensions.
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"Such large numbers of
young people living in developing countries present
great opportunities, but also risks," says
François
Bourguignon, the World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior
Vice President for Development
Economics.
"The opportunities are
great, as many countries will have a larger, more
skilled labor force and fewer dependents. But these
young people must be well-prepared in order to create
and find good
jobs." | |
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The report says that young
people make up nearly half of the ranks of the world's
unemployed, and, for example, that the Middle East and North
Africa region alone must create 100 million jobs by 2020 in
order to stabilize its employment situation. Moreover, surveys
of young people in East Asia and Eastern Europe and Central
Asia-carried out as research for the report-indicate that
access to jobs, along with physical security, is their biggest
concern.
Far too many young people--some
130 million 15-24 year olds--cannot read or write. Secondary
education and skill acquisition make sense only if primary
schooling has been successful. This is still far from being
the case and efforts have to be reinforced in this area. In
addition, more than 20 percent of firms in countries such as
Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Estonia, and Zambia, rate
poor education and work skills among their workforce as 'a
major or severe obstacle to their operations.' Overcoming
this handicap starts with more and better investments in
youth.
"Most developing
countries have a short window of opportunity to get this right
before their record numbers of youth become middle-aged, and
they lose their demographic dividend. This isn't just
enlightened social policy. This may be one of the profound
decisions a developing country will ever make to banish
poverty and galvanize its economy," says Emmanuel
Jimenez, lead author of the report, and Director of Human
Development in the World Bank's East Asia and the Pacific
Department. | |
