The corresponding targets under Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that is, ‘to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all’, aim to achieve and sustain a decent per capita economic growth and productivity in developing economies. In order to achieve this, market and competition reforms will be required to unlock creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Reducing youth unemployment and providing decent work for all is particularly important in the case of South Asia where one-fifth of the population in the region is between the ages of 15 and 24, young adults continue to account for half of the unemployed and youth are six times more likely to be jobless than older workers (World Bank 2016). Amongst youth, women, in particular, are being left behind due to constraints upon their geographic and occupational mobility, access to education, training and discriminatory cultural norms (Hunt and Samman 2016). In this context, the review paper will discuss constraints to youth employment in South Asia, priority actions needed to accelerate progress on Goal 8, particularly youth employment, means of implementation and policy interventions.

References

Hunt, A. and Samman, E. 2016, 'Women's Economic Empowerment: Navigating Enablers and Constraints', Overseas Development Institute, UK, <https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/10683.pdf>.

World Bank 2016, 'Portal on Youth in South Asia', <http://ow.ly/ZKqi8>, accessed 21 March 2016.

* This paper will be a summarised version of a report under review, titled, Khan, A. Javed, A. Batool, S. Hussain, F. Mehmood, H. and Ahmed, V. 'Role of Youth in Sustainable Development: Perspectives from South Asia.'