Youth Workforce Development
By engaging the private sector and relevant ministries, host countries can ensure youth gain the skills they need to lead productive lives, gain employment, and positively contribute to society.
With 75 million young people unemployed worldwide in 20211 , the lack of economic opportunity is a matter of worldwide concern. USAID's workforce development programs prepare young people for meaningful work opportunities through access to quality vocational, technical and higher education, coaching, internship placement, job matching, skills development and entrepreneurship programs. Providing higher levels of education can raise developing countries’ productivity significantly, and connecting youth to market-driven skills training and economic opportunity helps to mitigate root causes of migration, crime, instability and violent extremism. Emphasis is also placed on engaging the underserved and the disadvantaged, including women, persons with disabilities, and the most marginalized and vulnerable, to equip them with the skills to support themselves and their families.
For nearly two decades, we’ve been celebrating what the U.N. designated as, World Youth Skills Day on July 15. This year’s theme, Skilling Teachers, Trainers, and Youth for a Transformative Future, is an opportunity to build on USAID’s commitment to skill-building as both a foundation to learning and a crucial tool in addressing the challenges youth face.
Soft Skills Resources:
- Social and Emotional Learning and Soft Skills USAID Education Policy Brief
- State of the Evidence Update: Soft Skills Measurement
- Workforce Connections: Key "Soft Skills" That Foster Youth Workforce Success: Towards a Consensus Across Fields (external link)
- 1International Labour Organization, "Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022"
