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UNESCO-UNEVOC World Youth Skills Day 2026

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Summary of “UNESCO-UNEVOC World Youth Skills Day 2026”

World Youth Skills Day 2026—“Skills for a Shared Future”—brought together UNESCO-UNEVOC, governments, industry and education leaders, and young people to discuss how education and training should prepare youth for rapid change driven by AI, the green transition, and the need for human-centered skills that support peace, inclusion, and global citizenship.

1) Skills are framed as “more than jobs”—they enable dignity, participation, and peace

Speakers emphasized that skills development should not only serve employment outcomes, but also support:

  • dignity, participation, and opportunity for young people
  • social cohesion and peaceful societies
  • resilience in a world of accelerating technological and climate disruption

UNESCO highlighted stark access challenges, citing that:

  • 1 in 5 young people globally are not in employment, education, or training
  • 272 million children are out of school

These issues were framed as both a crisis and an opportunity requiring coordinated action.

2) Three priority “pillars” shaped the program: technological resilience, green transition, and human-centered peace skills

The event’s structure focused on:

  • Technological resilience (including AI literacy and the ability to work alongside AI)
  • Green transition (green/sustainability skills and confidence that green jobs will shape the future)
  • Human-centered skills for peace (empathy, collaboration, creativity, resilience, and global citizenship)

A central message from youth responses and speakers alike was that technical competence must be paired with “human capabilities”—skills AI cannot replace (e.g., empathy, critical thinking, ethical judgment, creativity).

3) Youth perspectives from a global survey: empathy, creativity, critical thinking—and major barriers

A UNESCO-UNEVOC youth survey presentation (about 11,513 responses across ~80 countries) reported:

  • Many respondents were in fields such as engineering/manufacturing/construction and education. Only ~8% reported their highest level as technical/vocational diplomas.
  • Many youth felt their education was only partially relevant to the job market: ~32% “very relevant,” ~60% “somewhat,” and ~8% “not relevant at all.”
  • Youth identified the biggest skills gaps as:
    1. technical/occupational skills
    2. AI literacy
    3. communication/collaboration

On “skills for a shared future,” youth priorities aligned with Mentimeter results:

  • Empathy led
  • Creativity/original thinking and critical thinking/complex problem solving were also prominent

Key concerns and barriers included:

  • Top concern: environmental sustainability/climate change, plus AI disruption and crime/safety
  • Biggest barriers to skills development: cost of courses, followed by lack of training opportunities
  • Regional difference (Africa): more youth cited poor internet/device access and lack of employer recognition
  • Youth emphasized exclusion is intersectional (e.g., rural location + disability + gender can compound barriers)

When asked what could be improved, youth stressed:

  • more practical/work-based learning
  • updated curricula (including digital skills)
  • reducing cost and access barriers

4) Panel dialogue: AI should support learning and work—but ethics and “human judgment” matter

In youth discussions:

  • Participants strongly disagreed that AI replacing technical skills training makes learning “a waste of time.”
  • They argued that technical learning is necessary to understand, supervise, validate outputs, and catch errors, enabling effective AI use rather than passive reliance.
  • Ethical AI use was discussed through examples such as:
    • avoiding over-reliance for assignments
    • understanding limitations
    • protecting privacy
    • recognizing misinformation (including edited or fake images)
    • ensuring AI does not replace real human relationships or emotional support

Youth also argued that AI and the green transition should not be treated separately; they should be integrated because AI can accelerate or reshape green actions and education.

5) “Human skills” like empathy can be taught and assessed through scenarios, observation, and portfolios—not only self-report

A panelist (UNESCO MGIP youth programs) argued that empathy/collaboration should be assessed via:

  • scenario-based, performance tasks (e.g., respectful dialogue in disagreement)
  • observable behaviors (listening, perspective-taking, reflecting after disagreement)
  • digital dilemmas for media literacy and responsible digital citizenship
  • reflective journals, peer feedback, collaborative projects, and digital portfolios, which capture growth conventional tests may miss

6) Governments and institutions: make systems flexible, quality-assured, and equitable

A Sri Lanka TVET commission representative emphasized that governments must balance:

  • funding, quality, and equity through a flexible, demand-driven skills system
  • strong industry co-design/co-delivery
  • quality assurance that can keep pace with rapid change (e.g., agile curriculum updating, labor market information, credible assessment)

They also stressed equity through multiple pathways rather than one rigid route, including:

  • RPL (recognition of prior learning)
  • enterprise-based training
  • competency-based models
  • micro-credentials
  • skill passports

7) Skills-for-the-future partnerships and opportunities: UNESCO Global Skills Academy and youth programs

The event concluded by highlighting concrete pathways and initiatives, especially:

  • UNESCO Global Skills Academy (GSA): a partnership platform to expand access to future-ready learning, aiming to reach 10 million learners by 2030
  • a “skills for the future” platform concept connecting the private sector, civil society, and youth to bridge skills gaps at scale

Engagement opportunities included:

  • competitions (e.g., a photography contest on skills-in-action)
  • online courses on social-emotional learning and media literacy
  • youth consultations/surveys for education beyond 2030
  • youth leadership and climate networks

8) Closing call to action: youth must participate as leaders in decision-making rooms

Youth closing messages reinforced:

  • lifelong learning and critical thinking (especially amid AI reliance)
  • making local impact through volunteering, mentoring, and initiatives
  • ensuring youth voices shape policy from the beginning, not only after decisions are made
  • reducing the risk of an “AI divide” where some communities advance while others are left behind

Presenters / contributors (named)

  • Friedri Hubler (UNESCO UNEVOC head; host/opening remarks)
  • Boris Gurji (youth entrepreneurship advocate; moderator)
  • Boron Shakrun / Mohan Shakun (UNESCO; Director for policies and lifelong learning systems)
  • Oliver Deal (Germany; deputy head of division dealing with vocational training—Federal Ministry of Education and Research / Bundesministerium)
  • Grace Samba (youth representative; youth opening remarks; read UN Secretary-General message)
  • Antonio Guterres (UN Secretary-General; message read aloud)
  • Nurita Davididovich (world skills champion; presented youth future skills survey)
  • Priscilla Gaton (youth dialogue facilitator)
  • Gene (Jin) Tada / Jen Tada (Japan; youth dialogue participant)
  • Precious Azumo (Nigeria; youth dialogue participant)
  • Fukan (Vietnam; youth dialogue participant)
  • Juan Camilo (Colombia; youth dialogue participant)
  • Aya Diddi (UAE; youth dialogue participant)
  • Diddi Bel (communication participant; youth dialogue)
  • Boris (Germany; appeared as a youth participant/entrepreneurship advocate during dialogue)
  • Richard (UNESCO MGIP; panel discussion on assessing empathy/collaboration)
  • Caroline Nyaga (Kenya; founder & CEO, Women in STEM initiative)
  • Dr. (Sri Lanka) – Director General, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (name not clearly captured in subtitles)
  • Alfie Hamid (Cisco Learning / Executive speaker on skills & AI disruption)
  • Christine Holling (Executive Dean, Higher Colleges of Technology—UAE)
  • Richer (associate project officer, UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development)
  • Solidad Padinho Bilalba (UNESCO associate project officer; presented UNESCO opportunities)
  • Lenny Martini (UNESCO UNEVOC; shared additional youth opportunities/competitions/programs)
  • Arve Mar (UNESCO chief of section at UNESCO headquarters; closing remarks)
  • Narmin Al-Morzuki (World Skills Champions Trust representative; closing youth call to action)
  • Javier Ferguson (scholarship student featured in a video snippet)
  • Additional scholarship student (e-commerce/new media; name not captured)
  • Sununing (executive vice president, China Group; video remarks—name as captured)
  • POCI / POSI / China POSI (as captured; scholarship project operator mentioned in video)

Note: Some names are inconsistently spelled due to auto-generated subtitles. The list reflects the identifiable names as they appeared in the provided transcript.

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