Politics
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned that 800 million young people entering the labour market in developing economies over the coming years may be unable to find jobs.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned that 800 million young people entering the labour market in developing economies over the coming years may be unable to find jobs. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo announced two new initiatives to boost investment and expand employment opportunities. He said that over the next 15 years, 1.2 billion young people would complete their education and enter the labour market, but only 400 million of them would be able to secure jobs. The main reason for this enormous gap is growing demographic pressure. In many developing countries, the median age of the population is between 18 and 25. De Croo explained that these projections are based on current technological conditions and are not inevitable outcomes; rather, they will depend on the policies adopted.
The first initiative announced by the UNDP focuses on accelerating investment. It aims to help governments improve investment policies and legal frameworks, compile a pipeline of investment-ready projects, and move those projects from preparation to implementation. The second initiative, known as Jobs for Prosperity, will help member states identify sectors with significant potential for job creation, align workers’ skills with employers’ needs, and remove barriers to business investment and recruitment. Addressing the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment, De Croo said effective and proactive policies could change these projections. Sectors such as care services, agriculture and tourism will continue to generate substantial employment opportunities even as the adoption of AI accelerates. He emphasized that creating jobs remains the only genuine and sustainable way to lift people out of poverty. To support both initiatives, the UNDP is expanding its partnerships with the World Bank Group, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Initial projects under these initiatives are already underway in Nepal, Yemen, Haiti, Lebanon and Ghana.
The initiatives were announced at a time when many developing countries are facing three major economic shocks simultaneously. De Croo described the situation as a triple crisis involving high energy prices, the strongest El Niño event since 1950 and extremely high borrowing costs. On average, developing countries now spend 9.5% of their total government revenue solely on interest payments on debt. For the first time since 2010, the number of people living in multidimensional poverty has also increased. This form of poverty goes beyond insufficient income and includes factors such as inadequate access to electricity, water, healthcare and education. De Croo said the global economy had proved more resilient than expected, but the benefits of that resilience were not being distributed equally among countries. While some nations continue to have relatively strong economic foundations, others lack the basic capacity to withstand further economic shocks.
