Youth employment : ILO’s Commitment

The KULEHE Project launch successfully brought together key stakeholders, all focused on youth employment, entrepreneurship, and economic inclusion. Among them, Marta Tsehay, the National Program Officer at ILO, provided valuable insights into ILO’s ongoing efforts. She specifically addressed youth employment challenges, existing policy gaps, and major barriers to entrepreneurship. Moreover, she highlighted ILO PROSPECTS, a collaborative initiative that actively supports young people, including both host and refugee youth.

ILO’s Focus on Youth Employment and Policy Gaps

Marta explained that youth often face limited job opportunities, widespread underemployment, and minimal involvement in policy-making processes. To effectively tackle these challenges, ILO is actively working on several key areas, including:

1. Developing policies that include host and refugee youth in economic opportunities.
2. Improving work ethics implementation to enhance job readiness. By doing so, they are better preparing youth for the workforce, ultimately fostering greater employment opportunities.
3. Overcoming implementation challenges, ILO is strengthening collaboration between governments, private sector leaders, and civil society organizations. Additionally, this approach ensures a more effective and inclusive solution to youth employment issues.

ILO PROSPECTS: A Multi-Partner Initiative

Marta introduced ILO PROSPECTS, which is a strategic partnership between ILO, UNHCR, IFC, UNICEF, and the World Bank. More importantly, this initiative focuses on four key areas to support youth, including:

1. Skill Development – Training youth to meet job market demands.
2. Employment – Creating job and entrepreneurship opportunities.
3. Social Protection – Ensuring fair labor conditions for young workers.
4. Critical Infrastructure – Supporting economic environments that foster growth.

Tackling Youth Employment Barriers

When asked about the main challenges ILO PROSPECTS addresses, Marta identified low youth engagement, unemployment, and limited support for youth-led initiatives. In response, ILO is:

Encouraging youth participation in program design.

Providing capacity-building, funding, and technical support to youth-led organizations.

Creating employment opportunities for around 1,000 young people through targeted programs.

Strengthening Policies and Supporting Entrepreneurs

Marta also discussed ILO PROSPECTS’ ongoing efforts to develop supportive domestic policies and eliminate barriers for youth entrepreneurs. Moreover, she emphasized that ILO is actively:

Setting international labor standards and helping governments build youth-friendly policies.

Enhancing the capacity of youth-led organizations to advocate for better policies.

Collaborating with the government and private sector to create a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Additionally, she praised Safe Light Initiative’s advocacy efforts, reinforcing the need for civil society engagement in shaping youth policies.

A Call for Collective Action

Marta’s insights at the KULEHE Project launch strongly highlighted the importance of collaboration in addressing youth employment and promoting economic empowerment. Moreover, with initiatives like ILO PROSPECTS, young people—especially host and refugee youth—can now access better opportunities for growth and success.

Stay Updated & Get Involved

To learn more about ILO’s ongoing work on youth employment and economic inclusion, be sure to visit the ILO PROSPECTS website. Additionally, stay connected for future opportunities, updates, and impactful initiatives aimed at empowering young people.