UNCTAD Youth Network launched a youth entrepreneurship online campaign '#e4youth' aiming to raise awareness on youth empowerment in the digital economy.
"E-Commerce can unlock new opportunities for young entrepreneurs. Not by accident but from deliberate, targeted acts of inclusion and empowerment "said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi, adding " We cannot leave this important generation behind"
Currently 71 million young people are unemployed and the global youth unemployment rate to expected rise by 13% in 2017 (International Labour Organization (2016) and Youth Business International) #e4youth campaign is a call for the international community to unite efforts to create and support a conducive environment towards youth self-empowerment and enable them to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The #e4youth campaign was announced during the 2017 UNCTAD E-commerce week which was attended by 450 youth.
The 2017 edition of the UNCTAD E-Commerce Week came at a crucial moment when governments are looking to develop strategies on how to deal with a changing economic and social landscape brought about by the digital economy.
Digital technologies are driving new ways of producing and consuming goods and services.
"The digital transformation implies disruptive changes to business models across sectors thereby affecting the nature of jobs and the skills young people need to successfully enter the labour market", said Dr. Kituyi.
"We must create opportunities for the young generation and consider them as partners in all our discussions for a successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda", added Dr. Kituyi.
"Globalization is still the solution, and trade is still the solution for solving job creation in the next 30 years", said Jack Ma, UNCTAD's Special Adviser for Youth Entrepreneurship and Small Business.
At the UNCTAD E-Commerce Week, youth agreed that technologies and e-commerce offer the opportunity to chart a new path for globalization provide huge potential to drive inclusive and sustainable development in a rapidly changing economic environment.
"Technologies and e-commerce could provide opportunities for the youth on the labor market and entrepreneurship as a solution for self-employment and job creation," said Laura Beltran Morales, a member of UNCTAD Youth Network.
During the e-commerce session, young men and women shared experiences and expressed their views on key issues to address in order to allow young people contribute to and benefit from the digital economy. #e4youth is linked to the sustainable development goals 1 (poverty), 4 (skills development), 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work and inclusive economic growth), 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and 17 (partnerships for development).
