Bangladesh has become the first Asia-Pacific government to commit to a global initiative designed to create decent jobs for young people.
The country has committed to the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth (Decent Jobs for Youth), which will see Access to Information (a2i), the flagship programme of the Bangladesh government’s digital agenda, pledge to train 250,000 Bangladeshi youth on digital skills and to deliver 340,200 apprenticeships by 2023.
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“Bangladesh is proud to be the first government in Asia and the Pacific to commit to the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth and invites other governments to join,” says a2i policy advisor Anir Chowdhury.
Decent Jobs for Youth is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together governments, social partners, the private sector, youth, and civil society organisations to scale up action and impact on youth employment worldwide.
“Each year, more than two million young Bangladeshi men and women enter the labour market, in desperate need of decent jobs and livelihoods”, adds Tuomo Poutiainen, country director, for the 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. We applaud this new partnership and look forward to working with the government, employers’ organisations and young trainees to make it a long-term success.”
According to the re:source by just-style strategic sourcing tool, Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest ready-made garment exporter, and the textile and apparel sector contributes around 20% to Bangladesh’s GDP. It employs around 20m people in the country and is the major driving force of the country’s economy.
