CoE-EU Youth Partnership in collaboration with EU4Youth sheds light on current state of youth employment and policy trends in the EaP

The CoE-EU Youth Partnership released five new country reports on youth employment and employability in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, on the Youth Wiki, an online platform that provides details on European countries’ youth policies. The latest reports follow the publication of several EaP country reports on youth participation in 2022 and 2023, and bring together the most recent updates on regional youth policy.

The reports show that the five countries have actively executed national strategies and programmes to enhance youth employment and entrepreneurship, focusing on initiatives such as start-up incubators, vocational education, and training (VET) programmes, and microfinancing options. These steps underline a regional promise to empower youth, which is crucial for economic growth and innovation. However, a noteworthy barrier remains, which is the mismatch between the education system and labour market demands. This disparity impedes the efficient incorporation of young people into the workforce and hinders the development of start-ups and small businesses.

The status of youth employment reveals some shared characteristics among these countries, such as high rates of unemployment and underemployment, widespread informal employment, skill mismatches with education, and a significant role of conflicts and displacement on employment opportunities. Additionally, the need for comprehensive youth employment programmes, youth engagement in policy-making, and addressing NEETs (youth not in employment, education, or training) are critical considerations.

Promotion of entrepreneurship, encouraging self-employment among youth, and leveraging international cooperation for exchanging best practices in youth employment policies are also seen as potential means to enhance youth employment.

While these countries face specific challenges, common threads exist in efforts to enhance youth employment. Tackling these issues requires multiple approaches, including policy reform, improving the education system, and active youth engagement in the labour market and policy-making.

Youth Wiki serves as a valuable tool in providing information on various themes related to national policies that support young people. It’s designed to aid the European Commission and Member States in decision-making by offering insights into reforms and initiatives, promoting the sharing of information, and facilitating peer learning activities. Over the next few months, the EU4Youth Coordination and Policy Support project is set to help in the development of additional EaP country reports on Youth Work and Education.

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Country reports