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13:30 – 13:45  Introduction

Mario Pezzini, Director, OECD Development Centre

Mónica Aspe, Chair of the OECD Development Centre’s Governing Board, Ambassador of Mexico to the OECD (tbc)

13:45 – 14:45  Session 1 – Youth aspirations and the reality of the labour market: How to narrow the gap?

As many as 600 million jobs will need to be created worldwide over the next 15 years to keep employment rates at their current level. The employment challenge comes from both demand side factors, i.e. insufficient formal job creation and supply side factors such as demographic pressure and skills mismatch. However, there is also a large gap between youth employment preferences and the reality of jobs. Career expectations are increasing in developing countries because a majority of young people today are more educated than their parents. In developing countries, a significant proportion of youth are not satisfied with their jobs.

Policymakers in developing countries are increasingly concerned with the quality of jobs as a factor of sustained development, and job satisfaction as a driver of productivity and well-being at work. But they have little information about young people’s expectations, and how to bring them closer with opportunities in the real world.

This session will present the findings from the global research carried out by the project on youth entrepreneurship, youth aspirations and rural youth livelihoods and discuss policy recommendations.

Moderator: Maria-Rosa De Paolis, Policy Officer, Employment and Social Inclusion, Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission

Presentation: Alexandre Kolev, Head of Social Cohesion Unit, OECD Development Centre

Discussants:

• Niall O’Higgins, Senior Research Specialist, Youth Employment Programme, International Labour Organisation
• Bernd Seiffert, Local Institutions and Rural Livelihoods Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

14:45 – 15:00   Coffee break

15:00 – 17:00  Session 2 – National youth strategies: How to move from paper to action?

Many governments are demonstrating growing political will to develop comprehensive policies that better respond to the needs and aspirations of young people. Nearly two out of three countries in the world today have a national youth strategy. Such promising approaches, however, continue to be undermined by serious challenges: fragmented responsibilities and weak implementation in national administrations, lack of reliable knowledge and data on youth, insufficient financial resources and limited engagement with young people themselves in the policy design and implementation.

This session will gather high-level policy makers from the project’s partner countries to share their experiences in implementing national youth strategies, setting priorities and engaging with youth and development partners in the process. 

Moderator: Clare Woodcraft, Executive Director, Woodcraft Associates Inc and Former CEO of Emirates Foundation

Setting the scene: Ji-Yeun Rim, Co-ordinator, EU-OECD Youth Inclusion Project

Roundtable discussion with Ministers and policy makers in charge of youth affairs:

• Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, Minister of Grassroots Development, Crafts, Youth and Youth Employment, Togo
• Sidi Tiémoko Touré, Minister for the Promotion of Youth, Youth Employment and Civic Engagement, Côte d’Ivoire
• Nguyen Trong Thua, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Viet Nam
• Ahmad Nawaf, Director of Youth Leadership Development Centre, Ministry of Youth, Jordan
• Judith Msusa, Deputy Director, Youth Department, Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development, Malawi
• Ion Donea, Head of Youth Department, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, Moldova
• Silvia Pedraza, Project Manager, INJUVE, El Salvador
• Ken Lohento, Senior Programme Coordinator, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
• Christophe Yvetot, Permanent Representative to the European Union, Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
• Christian   Mersmann, Policy Advisor, Global Donor Platform on Rural Development          
• Mattia Prayer Galletti, Lead Technical Specialist/Rural Youth, International Fund for Agricultural Development
• Laura Hurley, Technical Advisor, CSE & Youth Services, International Planned parenthood Federation
• Max Trejo, Secretary-General, International Youth Organization for Iberoamerica (OIJ)
• Anna Widegren, President, European Youth Forum
• Marcel Stefanik, Global Coordinator – Youth Engagement, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies   
• Desiree Hagenaars, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
• Natascha Skjaldgaard, Danish Youth Delegate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark

17:00 – 17:30 Conclusion and closing remarks

Maria Rosa De Paolis, Policy Officer, Employment and Social Inclusion, Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission

Naoko Ueda, Deputy Director, OECD Development Centre

17:30 – 19:00  Cocktail