The youth Cafe has partnered with United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth to create a platform that aims to give visibility to youth initiatives responding to COVID-19 and to the health, social, and economic consequences of the pandemic. To be part of the initiative one must be youth-led, with at least half the leadership positions being held by people who are 31 or younger, OR strongly youth or children-focused, with its project focusing on people who are 31 or younger.
We are excited to announce that 50 UN entities and 168 youth entities including The Youth Cafe have signed the UN IANYD statement on COVID 19 and Youth. UN MGCY played a role in helping to coordinate the process of writing this statement and is also a signatory. The United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (UN IANYD) is committed to goals enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the World Programme of Action for Youth, and the UN Youth Strategy.
The increase in unemployment as a result of COVID-19 is expected to exceed the rise in rates of unemployment in the aftermath of the 2009 global financial crisis. Based on the 2009 experience, without targeted policy intervention, it is likely that youth will again be disproportionately affected by a global recession, with a higher percentage of young people being unemployed compared to adults, and a slower uptake of employment by young people during the recovery. In light of the threat to the livelihoods of many youth, it is crucial that measures to ease the financial impacts on households are comprehensive and sufficient to bridge the gap resulting from loss of earnings
