Traditionally international initiatives focused on the issue of youth employment have expressed a commitment to engage youth groups as equal partners in the policy making process. All too often these promises have in reality meant little more than 'consultation' and the resulting policy has been a perceived notion of 'what is best' for young people. Subsequently the problem has continued unchecked.

The present
More than 1 billion people today are between 15 and 25 years of age and nearly 40 per cent of the world's population is below the age of 20. Eighty-five per cent of these young people live in developing countries where many are especially vulnerable to extreme poverty.
The International Labour Office estimates that around 88.2 million young women and men are unemployed throughout the world, accounting for 47 per cent of all the 185.9 million unemployed persons globally, and many more young people are working long hours for low pay, struggling to eke out a living in the informal economy.
There are an estimated 59 million young people between 15 and 17 years of age who are engaged in hazardous forms of work. Young people actively seeking to participate in the world of work are two to three times more likely than older generations to find themselves unemployed.

Young people have a role
Young people are now asking that their voices be heard, that their issues be addressed and that their roles be recognized. Rather than being viewed as a target group for which employment must be found, they want to be accepted as partners for development, helping to chart a common course and shaping the future for everyone.
The expected inflow of young people into the labour market, rather than being viewed as a problem, should be recognized as presenting an enormous opportunity and potential for economic and social development.
Young people as such should be viewed as an asset, not a threat and that in relation to the job market young people are the solution, whilst unemployment is the problem, not vice versa.

The policy solutions
- The YEN views young people as partners in devising solutions to a common problem.  
- The YEN will ensure that its policy recommendations support the aspirations of young people rather than impose perceived 'needs' upon them.
- The YEN will continue to work to ensure representative youth groups play central roles in the development and implementation of National Action Plans on youth employment.

 http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/yen/