World Youth Skills Day 2021: Reimagining Youth Skills Post-Pandemic

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 labor 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 programs 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.

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.

UNESCO invites you to the second and final Youth Employment in the Mediterranean (YEM) Regional Forum on 15 July, to highlight project results and impact, based on the implementation of its three key components in the region:

• Strengthening national systems for skills needs anticipation and assessment
• Improving quality and attractiveness of TVET pathways, especially for women
• Developing regional cooperation in the field of TVET

The forum will also mark World Youth Skills Day, and include representatives and direct beneficiaries from the participating countries; relevant TVET stakeholders and partners; regional and international TVET experts, and youth representatives and organizations.

The YEM project is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO from 2018-2021, supporting youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region by improving skills anticipation and TVET systems.

Tell 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 which 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.

Tips on how to share your testimony with UNESCO-UNEVOC

Remember to say your name, age, profile (e.g. student, TVET apprentice, newly graduated), institution and country.

Questions for young people (ages 15-24):

• What skills/work do you wish to acquire for the future?
• What skills do you think will be most important in the post-pandemic era and why?
• What is your message to decision makers in your country to support youth employment, skills development and entrepreneurship?

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 center of the frame.

Share your video

Share your video on your social media account with the hashtags #WYSD2021. Be sure to tag on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram when you post your video. Your consent is needed to use your video on 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