Delegates: Ms. Klaudia Klonowska, Ms. Agata Krząstek
36. Ms. Klonowska (Poland), speaking as a youth delegate, said that she and her colleague had registered the needs of their peers and wished to communicate them. In most cases, they had detected frustration relating to unemployment but that was just one of the issues of concern to young Polish adults. The difficulties encountered by young people as they made the critical transition from school to labour market could not be overestimated. They included restrictive labour laws, discrimination and unpaid internships that offered few if any guarantees of employment. Moreover, the market was changing faster than ever before, generating a demand for digital competence, soft skills and highly specialized knowledge. Youth unemployment was a major adverse factor for all parties, hindering personal development, heightening economic risks and weakening political stability.
37. Ms. Krzastek (Poland), speaking as a youth delegate, said that, as stated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Youth Strategy, it was vital to achieve inclusive economic growth and provide decent jobs for all. Structural reforms should remove entry barriers, create effective connections between education and jobs and ensure that education was relevant to the job market. Indeed, education should be updated to enable students to adapt quickly to changing labour market conditions.
38. The youth unemployment rate in Poland had fallen significantly faster than the average world rate. However, more must be done to tap into young people’s potential as agents of change and as a source of ideas and solutions. She urged Member States to work closely together to respond to the challenges faced by youth as they sought to enter the job market. The new United Nations Youth Strategy, which was designed to engage and empower people, could serve as an effective instrument for sustainable change.
UN Doc.: A/C.3/73/SR.3
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/73/SR.3, 3 October 2018, p. 7, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/poland-2018/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-191959-0.