Approximately half of the world’s population still lives on less than $2 per day. In many places, having a job does not always guarantee that an individual will escape poverty.
According to the UN, youths who are not in education, employment and training are more likely to have their emotional, physical and psychosocial well-being affected.
The lack of decent employment can also contribute to exacerbating global issues such as poverty and mass migration. This calls for sustainable development fueled by decent work for all.
- To this end, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8) is set to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”.
- The SDG 8 will also promote long-term and equitable economic growth for all workers, regardless of background, race, or gender.
- This goal aims to ensure that every country’s economic sector meets the basic needs of its citizens, regardless of their background, race, or culture. This was set out by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 which set out 17 indicators and 12 targets in total to be achieved by 2030.
- For SDG 8, two of the indicators were met by 2020, one by 2025, and the remaining fourteen indicators are to be met by 2030, making it a total of seventeen. Each of the 17 Indicators is used to assess the success and progress of decent work and global economic growth.
Nairmetrics will focus on 2 of the targets which are – full employment and decent work with equal pay and Promoting youth employment, education and training.
Target 8.5: Full employment and decent work with equal pay
The target is to create 600 million new jobs by 2030, thus keeping pace with the growth of the working-age population.
Target 8.6: Promote youth employment, education and training
Addressing youth employment entails collaborating with and for young people who are looking for decent and productive jobs. Such solutions should address both supply and demand of education, skill development, and training.
In 2019, for example, 22% of the world’s young people were not in employment, education, or training, and this figure remained the same since 2015.
Unfortunately, in African countries, it is the same situation as the youth NEET rates are higher today than they were in 2015 when the SDGs were originally implemented. One of the latest reports indicates that the global unemployment rate is projected to remain above its 2019 level of 5.4 per cent, at least until 2023.