Signal World Youth Skills Day 2026 — NEET gender gap highlighted

Summary

UNESCO-UNEVOC marked World Youth Skills Day 2026 on July 15 with a webinar from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CEST under the theme "Skills for a shared future," bringing together governments, educators, employers and young people. One in five young people worldwide is not in employment, education or training (NEET), with the rate at 28.1% for young women versus 13.1% for young men. The UN cites global youth unemployment falling to 13% in 2023, a 15-year low, even as 65 million young people remained unemployed that year and 273 million children and young people were out of school. The UN Secretary-General stated that "unlocking the full potential of younger generations requires massive investment in inclusive quality education and training." Supporting statistics note that 22% of jobs are expected to transform by 2030 due to technological disruption, while 86% of students report not feeling prepared for an AI-enabled workplace.