Bangladesh commits to global initiative on decent jobs for youth

Bangladesh is the first country in Asia and the Pacific region to commit to the global initiative on decent jobs for youth, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said in a statement yesterday.

The Decent Jobs for Youth is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together governments, social partners, the private sector and youth and civil society organisations to scale up action and impact on youth employment worldwide.

“Access to Information (a2i) is the flagship programme of the Bangladesh government's digital agenda pledged to train 250,000 Bangladeshi youth on digital skills and to deliver 340,200 apprenticeships by 2023,” said Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser to a2i under the Prime Minister's Office.

He was addressing an event on “Decent jobs for youth: working together in Asia and the Pacific” organised by the ILO in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.

“Each year, more than two million young Bangladeshis enter the labour market, in desperate need of decent jobs and livelihoods,” said Tuomo Poutiainen, country director, ILO Bangladesh.

“Our experience shows that supporting youth in their school-to-work transition, using industry-led apprenticeships and offering the latest digital skills training will help Bangladesh's young people better prepare for the jobs of the 21st century.”

The ILO said the commitments of a2i align with the priority for skills development in Bangladesh.

The a2i - Innovate for All of the Bangladesh government works with a whole-of-government approach by leveraging the rapid expansion of technologies to create the right environment for demand-driven skills development.

The quality apprenticeship prog-ramme for young people requires key industrial partners to equip apprentices with practical and on-the-job skills.