Three ways you can get involved in World Youth Skills Day

What is World Youth Skills Day?

World Youth Skills Day highlights the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, as well as recognizing the important role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges.

This year, World Youth Skills Day takes place in a difficult context. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures have disrupted the continuity of skills development and led to an increase in youth unemployment. Before the pandemic, young people between the ages of 15 to 24 were already three times more likely than adults to be unemployed. Already, more than 1 in 6 young people have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

This year’s message emphasizes the importance of skilled and resilient youth, particularly building their capacities to respond to crises and rapid changes in employment and entrepreneurship.

Our work supports this goal by strengthening the quality and relevance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) through collaboration with government institutions, private sector, and local communities. Thanks to vocational training programs, youth are gaining access to inclusive economic opportunities that will lead to improved quality of life.

To respond to the challenges created by COVID-19, WUSC is adopting innovative approaches to support youth skills development. For instance, we are supporting our training partners and their students to switch to an online vocational training program to prepare for future employment as well as supporting employers to navigate the challenges of COVID-19.

Three Ways you can Get Involved

→ Test your knowledge with our #WYSD quiz on our Instagram account all day this Wednesday, July 15. Stay tuned!

→ Join the conversation online. Share a skill you recently learned and how you plan to share that skill with the world using #MySkillForTheWorld and #WYSD.

→ Share your skills through one of our new e-volunteer opportunities. Meet some incredible organizations WUSC volunteers are supporting right now from the comfort of their own homes, below.

Meet some of our partner organizations supporting youth skills development around the world

AAG helps youth skill up for employment in the Construction Sector in Ghana

The Artisans Association of Ghana (AAG) is a membership-based association working to build a network of artisans. They train, upgrade and support the certification of youth and master craftspeople, as well as reduce barriers, particularly for women, in the construction sector and other male-dominated trades.

Despite vast employment opportunities that the construction sector presents in Ghana, the participation of marginalized young women is hindered by limited information, inadequate skills and support services, and gender constraints imposed by social norms. As a membership association with over 5,000 members from four regions of Ghana, AAG seeks partnerships with businesses, identifies employment opportunities, and provides training and certification for its members in line with national standards.

WUSC volunteers are supporting AAG to increase the number and quality of opportunities for young women to enter and thrive in the construction sector. We are currently recruiting 2 e-volunteers: a Business Development Advisor and a Strategic Planning Advisor. The e-volunteers will support in developing a new business plan and a new strategic plan, which will be designed to help the organization weather changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to the Technical and Vocational Training Education (TVET) sector.

COTVET is reimaging the TVET ecosystem for youth in Ghana

The Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) is a national body created to coordinate and oversee TVET in Ghana. COTVET formulates policies for skills development across the spectrum of pre-tertiary and tertiary education, and the formal, informal and non-formal sectors.

COTVET is also strengthening Ghana’s TVET system to improve the productivity and competitiveness of the skilled workforce and raise the income generating capacities of people, especially women and low income groups, through the provision of quality, demand-driven and competency-based training programs and complementary services.

WUSC volunteers support COTVET to develop and implement a comprehensive gender strategy to ensure that gender equality is well-integrated into quality standards and TVET policy.

TiH offers hope to refugees in Malawi

There is Hope (TiH) is an organization located next to the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. The vision of There is Hope is to see refugees and their host community escape poverty and become self-reliant. The organization offers refugees accredited vocational training programs in bricklaying, carpentry, welding, plumbing and tailoring, irrespective of the students’ levels of literacy or previous academic achievement. This support enables the students to start their own businesses or seek employment.

WUSC is currently looking for a Business Development Advisor (e-volunteer position) with There is Hope. This e-volunteer will work with the organization to develop new programs and source new funding opportunities that support refugees and their host communities to overcome poverty and become self-reliant.

Meet the organizations supporting women’s employment in Jordan

In Jordan, WUSC works with the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), and the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) to increase the number of Jordanian women in the workforce through two training programs: Medical Office Assistance (MOA) and Healthcare Support Worker (HSW). This initiative also aims to reduce gender-specific barriers to women entering the workforce, such as unsafe transportation and inaccessible childcare services.

In the wake of COVID-19, there was significant concern among our partners that the lockdown would create irreversible impacts on these programs and students. By moving the Healthcare Support Worker training program online, VTC has helped ensure that their students could continue their education and enter into employment upon graduation where they would respond to Jordan’s growing healthcare demands, particularly given the current health crisis.

Tourism Schools create new opportunities for youth Vietnam

Tourism is an important economic driver in Vietnam, one that currently employs close to two million workers and contributes 10% to national gross domestic product (GDP). With the right skill set, workers in the tourism sector have the potential to earn wages that are double the national average.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of youth are underqualified and do not have the relevant practical skills required to access decent employment in the tourism sector. WUSC volunteers  partner with several tourism schools in Vietnam to support on-campus businesses. On-campus cafés, restaurants and hotels provide excellent opportunities for students to gain hands-on trade skills and business experiences.

Apply to one of our new e-volunteer positions today and make your impact in increasing economic opportunities for women and youth around the world!