UNESCO’s 2012 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report–Putting Education to Work–reveals the urgent need to invest in skills for youth. In developing countries, 200 million people aged 15 to 24 have not even completed primary school and need alternative pathways to acquire basic skills for employment and prosperity. The world’s youth population is larger than ever before; one in eight young people are unemployed and over a quarter are trapped in jobs that keep them on or below the poverty line. As the effects of the economic crisis continue to squeeze societies worldwide, the severe lack of youth skills is more damaging than ever. Highlights of the report by region are as follows:
- North America: 20% of young New Yorkers out of school and out of work.
- Latin America and the Caribbean: 8% of young people fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.
- Europe: $1 invested in youth skills can pay back fifteen-fold in economic growth.
- Central Asia, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe: Almost four million young people fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.
- South and West Asia: 25% of young people in fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.
- East Asia and the Pacific: 8% of young people fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.
- Arab States: 20% of young people fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 33% of young people fail to complete primary school and lack skills for work.