Events

World Youth Skills Day 2021

Event Date:

Thu, 2021/07/15

Venue:

Online (Bonn)

Reimagining Youth Skills Post Pandemic

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. Since then, World Youth Skills Day events have provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policymakers and development partners.

World Youth Skills Day 2021 will take place in a challenging context, with the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the widespread disruption of the TVET sector. While vaccination rollouts offer some hope, TVET still has a long road to recovery, especially in those countries which continue to be overwhelmed by the spread of the disease. Youth skills development will face a range of unfamiliar problems emerging from a crisis where training has been disrupted in an unprecedented manner on a virtually universal scale.

Young people aged 15-24 are particularly exposed to the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic. School and workplace closures are leading to learning and training losses. Major life-cycle transitions are made difficult if not impossible, including graduation from general education or TVET at secondary or tertiary level, residential autonomy, and labour market insertion.

TVET has a key role to play in fostering the resilience of young people. It is crucial for all stakeholders to ensure the continuity of skills development and to introduce training programmes to bridge skills gaps. Solutions need to be reimagined in a way that considers not only the realities of the present, but also the full range of possibilities for the future.

Virtual event

World Youth Skills Day 2021 will celebrate the resilience and creativity of youth throughout the crisis. A virtual event, organized by the Permanent Missions of Sri Lanka and Portugal to the UN, the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, UNESCO and ILO, will offer an opportunity to reflect on skills that are needed today and for the future. Participants will take stock of how the TVET sector has adapted to the pandemic and recession, think of how TVET institutions can participate in the recovery, and imagine priorities they should adopt for the post-COVID-19 world.

Agenda and registration link coming soon!

Tell us your story

The COVID-19 pandemic has reached a scale that could hardly have been anticipated one year ago. As young people continue to showcase their resilience during this crisis, UNESCO-UNEVOC is calling on TVET youth to share videos of how they have adapted to new modes of training and learning over the past year and what skills they think will be most important in the post-pandemic era. These stories will be featured in a global campaign to mark World Youth Skills Day on 15 July.

#TVETYouth #WYSD2021

Tips on how to share your testimony with UNESCO-UNEVOC

Questions for students (please say your name, age, institution, city and country)

What has been the most difficult part of distance learning?
How have you adapted to changes in TVET teaching and learning over the past year?
What skills are most important for young people today?
What skills will be most important in the post-pandemic era?
What message would you like to share with other young people on World Youth Skills Day?

Tips for recording your video (60 seconds maximum)

1. Record in a well-lit place.

2. Test the sound. Film for a few seconds and listen to the video to make sure the sound is good. Make sure there are no noises around you or other people speaking at the same time.

3. The video will be cut to a square (1:1) format. Whether you film horizontally or vertically, make sure that the person speaking is always in the centre of the frame.

Share your video

Share your video on your social media account with the hashtags #TVETYouth #WYSD2021. Be sure to tag us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram when you post your video. We will need your consent to use your video on our website and YouTube channel. Please fill in and sign the consent form and send it to unevoc.skills(at)unesco.org.

Deadline for submissions: 8 July 2021

Thank you for sharing your TVET story and being part of this video series!

More info

Access additional information about the UN resolution on World Youth Skills Day and UNESCO-UNEVOC’s previous celebrations to mark the occasion through the links below.

United Nations resolution on WYSD

UN Website: UN World Youth Skills Day

UNESCO-UNEVOC's work on youth employment and entrepreneurship