JA Supports World Youth Skills Day

July 15, 2022

Eight years ago, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day, a time set aside to celebrate the global need to prepare young people for employment and entrepreneurship. This year’s celebration is especially important, given the effects of COVID-19, along with challenges that existed prior to pandemic: poverty, gender inequality, climate change, political upheaval, and more.

World Skills Clock

The World Skills Clock project aims to highlight—in real time—the number of youth without the skills to obtain meaningful work. As of today, 61% of the world’s youth do not have secondary-education skills and 63% are without digital skills. The website, which is live in an early version, enables you to dig into country-specific and region-specific data to determine where the highest needs exist.

#SkillsRightNow

Our CEO, Asheesh Advani, serves on the Global Leadership Council of Generation Unlimited, a public-private youth partnership launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2018. Today, Gen U launched its #SkillsRightNow campaign, emphasizing that the right skills will make all the difference for young people and their future. From the campaign, “Youth need a full range of skills to succeed in school, work and life, especially in a rapidly evolving world. But around three in four youth are off-track in acquiring the skills needed for employment, according to new findings published this week by UNICEF and the Education Commission. To inspire tangible action from young people as well as members of the public and private sectors, we are launching an Action Hub on our website listing steps that each of us can take.” Follow Generation Unlimited on Twitter,  Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Youth Voices

An important element of World Youth Skills Day is the opportunity for conversations with youth to hear about their needs, challenges, and desires. We’re proud to share that we’ve launched Youth Voices, a joint initiative from JA Worldwide, Cortico, MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC), and Accenture. Youth Voices is a collection of firsthand experiences from 100+ JA Worldwide students and alumni across 45+ countries, told in audio format, and facilitated by JA Youth Advisors, who were trained in facilitating conversations.

Outcomes and Insights

Analysis of more than 40 hours of conversations revealed six key insights: self-efficacy, impact, values, youth empowerment, thriving communities, and learning experiences.

  • Self-Efficacy: JA’s theory of change is rooted in improving self-efficacy in youth. That is, helping young people move from “I can’t“ to “I can.” Sub-themes: Skills Acquisition, Role Models, Practicing Optimism, Supportive Belief

  • Impact: We measure JA’s impact on several dimensions, whether our alumni go on to incubate social movements, build small businesses, improve their employability, or simply practice financial health. Sub-themes: Global Citizen Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Innovation & Creativity Skills, Technology Skills.

  • Learning Experiences: Through JA’s hands-on learning experiences, students develop a skillset of both hard and soft skills and foster an entrepreneurial mindset that provides economic agency and empowerment. Sub-themes: Digital Experiences, Youth & Alumni Gatherings, In-Person Experiences

  • Learning Experiences: Through JA’s hands-on learning experiences, students develop a skillset of both hard and soft skills and foster an entrepreneurial mindset that provides economic agency and empowerment. Sub-themes: Digital Experiences, Youth & Alumni Gatherings, In-Person Experiences

  • Thriving Communities: We envision a world in which young people have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. Sub-themes: Connection, Resilience

  • Youth Empowerment: JA teaches young people—through hands-on, immersive learning—how to solve problems, work toward a goal, and own their economic success. Sub-themes: Agitating For Change, Setting & Achieving Goals, Realizing Economic Empowerment

  • Values: Practiced daily by JA staff, volunteers, board members, and teachers, our six values have stood the test of time. Sub-themes: Believe In Youth, Immersive Learning, Sustainability, Work Ethic, Diversity & Inclusion, Collaboration

Visit Youth Voices to learn more and hear from these inspiring young people. Sort by insight, region, or conversation; read about the process; and find out more about the project at youthvoices.org.

2022July, FeaturedJA Worldwide