Youth often face precarious working conditions, including long hours, low wages, lack of job security, and limited access to social protection. These conditions have adverse effects on their physical and mental health. As a youth-led organisation advocating for meaningful youth engagement in programmes and policies that enable young people to lead and thrive, our Programme Manager, Opeyemi Ogundeji participated in the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Interactive Dialogue and Launch of Work Wise Youth: A Guide to Youth Rights at Work held on 14th February 2024 as a youth moderator.
This webinar featured an inter-generational dialogue on the importance of promoting youth rights at work for individuals, businesses and societies and the launch of the “Work Wise Youth: A Guide to Youth Rights at Work. The guide contains knowledge, information and tools for young people to navigate the world of work and also to support institutions and facilitators in delivering training for young people to raise their awareness of their rights at work, social protection entitlements and fair conditions of work.
Milagros Lazo Castro, the ILO Youth Employment Specialist kickstarted the programme by sharing some housekeeping rules and then introduced the keynote speaker, Ouided Bouchamaoui who is an Entrepreneur, Social activist and a 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. A key point that stood out for us in her thoughtful presentation was that: “Youth rights matter for the economy, for the world and the future”. Following her presentation, a short clip to give the purpose of the Work Wise Youth Guide was displayed after which there was the launch of the guide by Mia Seppo, Assistant Director-General for Jobs and Social Protection.
There were other engaging activities during the webinar ranging from polls, panel sessions, reflections and Q&A sessions. During one of the poll sessions, there was a poll asking: What comes to your mind when you think of youth rights at work? Amongst many things, here are some of the responses shared by the attendees: innovation, justice, awareness, solidarity, responsibility, agency, adequate remuneration, necessary, equal pay, and work-life balance.
All four panellists shared insightful perspectives and relevant information on raising awareness on supporting young people’s rights at work and the need for cohesion between organisations in advancing these conversations for the promotion of decent work. Our Programme Manager, Opeyemi Ogundeji, a youth moderator at this webinar asked one of the panellists: Foni Vuni from the Global Refugee Youth Network a question on the challenges faced by forcibly displaced youths at the workplace and the kind of support ILO can provide to ensure the protection of refugee rights at work.
Reflecting on Foni Vuni’s response, research has shown that forcibly displaced young people face numerous challenges which range from discrimination/stigmatization, qualification/certifications mismatch, impostor syndrome lowering their confidence, language barriers, exploitation, unsafe working conditions exposing them to hazards and limited access to information and resources on their rights at the workplace.
Lastly, now is the time for institutions to collaborate, be more inclusive, lead more on these conversations and research more on country-specific data in influencing strategic initiatives relevant for implementation. Also, rights-related terminologies should be simplified to help youth know what is standard (for instance, what does decent work mean? Or what is even a decent wage?).
Resources:
● Watch the live stream of the event here.
● The Guide is also currently available here.
