This newsletter gives you highlights of selected sustainability insights that were, perhaps, too long (you) didn’t read (TLDR) or there’s just too much out there to read. The highlights presented cover insights gleaned from a global, regional (African), and national (Kenyan) perspective. Happy reading!
GLOBAL
Global Trends for Youth Employment 2024
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) published its 20th anniversary edition of this youth centred report, which looks at how well (or not) young people are doing in attaining decent work – from a policy and institutional lens. (Note: youth is 15 – 24 years old). Here some key highlights from the report:
- Across most countries, youth unemployment returned to pre-COVID19 levels or below; but for Arab States, East Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, youth unemployment was higher in 2023 than 2019. Young men benefited more than young women from this recovery.
- Globally, only 6% of youth were unemployed in 2023. However, about 20% of youth were not in employment, education or training. 1 in 3 of the world’s young people live in a country that is off track on SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth. The fact is, the world is well off track on SDG 8 as it was at the start of the SDGs in 2015. Concerningly, globally, 2 of 3 youth who are not in employment, education or training are young women and this rate is double that of young men.
- In the next few years, the low rates of youth unemployment in Northern, Southern and Western Europe and North America are likely increase.
- Most young people around the world cannot find secure paid jobs (a job with a paying employer and a contract longer than one year) but this picture has not changed much since the start of the millennium (year 2000). As the world shifts more towards casual work e.g. gig economy, shift work, e.t.c. young people are getting more anxious about their financial independence and the stages of adulthood.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 3 in 4 working young people are in insecure jobs. According to the report, this part of the world has some of the lowest youth unemployment rates (8.9% in 2023) because most young people cannot afford to not have some form of income generation. For North Africa and Arab States, youth unemployment will remain high.
- Education mismatches have increased as the supply of educated youth starts to outweigh the opportunities for highly skilled work in middle-income countries. As developing countries have been slow in their transition to value-addition sectors, young people are only finding work in low or average skilled jobs – that do not match their education. In these economies, 2 of 3 young people hold qualifications that do not match their work.
In August 2024, the World Bank launched a special council to tackle the looming job crisis that will arise in the Global South. In the next decade, 1.2 billion young people in the Global South will be of working age, while the global job market will only create 420 million jobs. This high-level council is co-chaired by former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet and President of the Republic of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratham and will convene experts across diverse stakeholders towards strategies that solve for large scale employment opportunities.
The creation of this council highlights the global urgency to address youth unemployment. The ILO report points out that how effectively we are able to engage young people in the world of work and civic engagement, will determine the global progress (or lack of it).
The report proposes some key recommendations for policy makers and institutional decision-makers:
- There needs to be more policies that boost job creation and improve financial access;
- Provide training and education to reduce skills mismatches and to manage the school-to-work transition;
- Deliver an enabling environment for self-employment and entrepreneurship;
- Ensure labour rights to ensure fair and decent work for young people in line with international standards.
Shaping these policy and institutional interventions will require including youth; adding gender-responsive approaches to reverse declining trends around young women not in employment, education or training; matching education, skills and training to labour demand and opportunities; and working in partnership.
My two-cents: As much as this report highlights much needed issues and interventions e.g. for our governments and development institutions, it also highlights significant opportunities in social sustainability for business as well. From my perspective, business is the creator and driver of the economy and the job creator (if we keep to the measure of production, consumption, exchange).
The global youth employment trends also talk to the demographic trends I shared in a previous TLDR edition, which highlighted that for over 170 countries worldwide, populations will continue to grow well into mid 2050s and beyond. I am hoping that private sector are making the connection between citizens, customers, employees and long term (national) prosperity at the pace needed to provide solutions.
AFRICA
Global Media Index for Africa 2024
This index tracks how the world’s most powerful 20 global media houses cover the African continent based on diversity of topics, range of sources, number of countries and depth of coverage. This report’s work is important as how global media cover the region of Africa, shapes perceptions of the countries, which in turn influence decision-making on investment, trade, policy, tourism and cost of money.
Here are some interesting callouts:
- The lion’s share of news report about the African continent related to politics, poverty, corruption, with little attention to culture, arts, innovation, technology and other positive developments.
- Global media organisations give so much space to powerful men (politicians, business leaders, experts) in their stories about the continent. In line with this, voices of ordinary citizens, young people, women, were given little attention.
- Despite having 55 countries on the continent of Africa, global news coverage of Africa focuses on a handful of countries suggesting that global media treat the African continent as a country.
- Nearly all global media outlets provide depth of coverage – ensuring balanced reporting e.g. thorough research; providing context for the stories to support audience understanding; and avoiding stereotypes in framing.
Some key recommendations from the report to global media, I thought interesting were:
- Media houses can improve diversity by improving their own diversity in the newsroom e.g. more women, more young people, culture, and more, that are more representational and enhance a more inclusive lens to media reporting.
- Multi-stakeholder approaches (media, regulators, researchers, civil society) are needed to ensure more balanced reporting and understanding on African narratives e.g. what is reported about the continent and its countries e.g. moving beyond the negative (dare I say, cliché) stories to the positive news integral.
- Improve media literacy and multicultural understanding that can empower audiences to effectively evaluate media coverage about the African continent.
My two-cents: Because global media shape narratives about this region that have real consequences on investment, economy, trade, money costs I do not take this idea of who is shaping narratives lightly. This is already playing out in global conversations around climate action e.g. mitigation v/s adaptation, financing; people v/s nature in biodiversity action; just transitions; business and human rights; e.t.c. Narrative shaping cannot and should not be easily brushed off – as the saying, ‘perception is reality’. Lastly, this report makes me think of ‘how one sees themselves’ v/s ‘how others see you’, and in this case; the outer world’s version is on a very different tangent.
KENYA
Young & Kenyan Report
Social ventures organization, Shujazz Inc., recently published an insightful report on Kenyan youth trends: (youth are 15-24 years old). Today, youth account for about 16 percent of the world’s population; and in Kenya 1 in 5 Kenyans are youth. It’s Kenya’s largest youth population in the country’s history. As reinforced in the global article on global youth trends, youth will also shape Kenya’s democratic and development trajectory.
Kenya has about 15 years to make the most of opportunities for youth through enabling, creating and maximizing local economic growth and investing in its youthful population – a pathway is provided in the country’s demographic dividend roadmap 2020 – 2030. Leveraging the demographic dividend – is how South East Asian countries e.g. Thailand, Vietnam, and the like, boosted economic productivity to realise progress for their countries and populations. Unfortunately, Kenya and other African countries have not yet done this.
Over 7 years, Shujazz Inc. spoke with youth across the country and here are some useful insights for decision-makers to consider:
- All youth (15-24 years old) today have to earn money to support their families and household. 95% of their work is in the informal economy. The informal sector makes up about 30% of the country’s GDP, and over 90% of the country’s businesses and entrepreneurs are in the informal sector.
- Providing peer-to-peer exchange and skills training, access to financial services, and exposure to role models, can help young entrepreneurs on their journey.
- Today’s youth are well aware of modern contraception, and want to take responsibility for their futures. However, it is not regular use, and for teen girls contraceptive use remains a challenge. In 2022, 15% of teenage girls in Kenya became pregnant.
- Girls want to know that their friends are using contraceptives to do the same – this shifts behaviour more than education or access.
- Kenya’s youth represented 28% of the electorate in 2022, but few (10%) turned out to vote. At a recent youth summit, Kenyan youth highlighted their commitment to fix broken social contracts, and democracy that works for youth as future generations.
- Majority of youth believe their vote makes a difference and believe they have a role to play in local governance. In addition, over 80% of youth said that the first thing they would do when they achieve success is to give back to their communities.
- 1 in 3 young Kenyans thinks their social circles have a substance abuse problem, and 60% of youth have experienced some form of mental health challenge.
- Over 80% of Kenyan youth are hopeful for the future. They see the promise of technology but also see that it is leaving behind Kenyans in rural areas. For this generation, 85% know that the climate is changing and it is a reality with challenges and opportunities.
My two-cents: Kenyan youth are (finally) taking up their space calling for the country they want. This report was an insightful read and left me optimistic! The generations over 40 years old are a negligible number in terms of population, yet hold the decision-making power (in business, government, academia, e.t.c.) that shape and decide the future of the majority and the country’s direction. The youth unrest in Kenya and elsewhere e.g. USA, Bangladesh, UK, e.t.c. are a clear alarm bell. We can do well to remember that it has often been youth action that brought about systemic change.