UNESCO’s Global Skills Academy supports over 839,000 learners across more than 60 countries

At an event celebrating World Youth Skills Day 2023, the Global Skills Academy – one of the three flagship missions of UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition – took stock of its support to over 839,000 learners across more than 60 countries to develop skills for employment, three years since it was launched.

With 25 Global Education Coalition members from the private sector, international organizations, and foundations, the Global Skills Academy (GSA) continues to grow as it marks its third anniversary. HP Life and SkillED have both pledged commitment to the mission and another new member, Aleph Group, is offering no-cost training in digital marketing and advertising. The GSA’s goal is to help 10 million learners build skills for employability and resilience by 2029, as part of UNESCO TVET Strategy for 2022-2029

Today, 267 million young people aged 15-24 are still not engaged in any form of employment, education, or training.

The hybrid event, which took place on 14 July, was co-organized by UNEVOC and World Skills. Policy-makers, members of the Global Education Coalition, and youth leaders came together to discuss the role of skilled young people in creating a more sustainable future and what more can be done to build employability, entrepreneurship, and resilience for youth.

Several examples of the Global Skills Academy initiatives were presented during the event. KPMG’s new mentorship initiative launched in 2023 supports young graduates entering the labour market in India. Participating staff were paired up with 100 young people from the National Skill Development Council of India  (NSDC) to help get them ‘job ready’.

“The programme improved my practical skills, like resume building, email writing, and communication proficiency,” said Navya Rawal who joined as a mentee. “My mentor helped me in identifying my skills, my strengths, my weaknesses – allowing me to focus on areas for improvement. She has played a crucial role in boosting my confidence.”

Navya credits the programme with helping her land her current role as NSDC. “I believe that the success of any nation lies in the hands of youth, however young people today face challenges in securing employment opportunities because they lack practical skills,” she said.                                      

Other examples include the Digital Ad Expert, a social initiative of Aleph Group, Inc., which launched a Digital Ad Certificate programme last month for the first cohort in Grenada. The programme offers a series of customized modules and virtual sessions where students can meet online and access a wide range of online resources to enhance their learning experience. Over the next three months, approximately 200 students from Grenada are expected to benefit from the programme.    

Donnet Hilaire, a small business owner and entrepreneur, who joined the programme, shared the value of the training.

“Everything is digital [now and] being a business professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, [this training] can really put me in a position where I can really market myself,” she said, adding that she now feels more able to compete on a global scale with her business.

Concluding the event, Borhene Chakroun, UNESCO’s Director of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems Division, mentioned the increasing uncertainties facing young people – from climate change to jobs disappearing or transforming due to AI. In addition to partnerships, such as those facilitated through the Global Education Coalition, and youth agency, he said that more programmes are needed that will meet the changing demands as we see them emerging.

“That’s what UNESCO-UNEVOC does through the networks, through knowledge sharing, cooperation, and solidarity … and also what the Global Skills Academy is doing by having this combination of different stakeholders,” Mr Chakroun said.

Under the umbrella of the Global Education Coalition (GEC), the Global Skills Academy (GSA) was established on World Youth Skills Day 2020 in response to COVID-19. The mission’s founding partners – Coursera, Dior, Festo, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Orange Digital Centres and PIX – as well as international organisations and partners including ILO, OECD and WorldSkills Competition, committed to mobilizing resources and programmes to help learners develop skills and competencies for employability and resilience.

The GSA mission works by leveraging strategic partnerships within UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, mobilizing UNESCO Field Offices, and the UNESCO-UNEVOC network which has over 220 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions across 140 countries. It connects individual learners, institutions, and governments with opportunities to skill, upskill, and reskill through trainings tailored to the fast-evolving labour market and a focus on key digital, entrepreneurial, and green skills