The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling work-related issues. The ILO publishes the results of research related to the changing nature of work and employment which is of importance to policy makers and others.

Global Employment Trends for Youth (2006) updates world and regional youth labour market indicators first presented in 2004 and provides the most comprehensive analysis of empirical research and quantitative assessments of trends in labour markets among those aged 15 to 24. In addition to a global overview, the report also provides regional youth employment trends.

The report emphasizes that today's youth face serious vulnerabilities in the world of work and warns that a lack of decent work, if experienced at an early age, may permanently compromise their future employment prospects. The report adds urgency to the UN call for development of strategies aimed at giving young people a chance to maximize their productive potential through decent employment.

This report is available at:

http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/Publications/Officialdocuments/lang--en/docName--WCMS_077664/PDF