Author: FTHI

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World Youth Skills Day – 15 July

Transforming youth skills for the future

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. Since then, World Youth Skills Day has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy-makers, and development partners.

World Youth Skills Day 2022 takes place amid concerted efforts toward socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that are interconnected with challenges such as climate change, conflict, persisting poverty, rising inequality, rapid technological change, demographic transition, and others.

Young women and girls, young persons with disabilities, youth from poorer households, rural communities, indigenous peoples, and minority groups, as well as those who suffer the consequences of violent conflict and political instability, continue to be excluded due to a combination of factors. In addition, the crisis has accelerated several transitions the world of work was already undergoing, which add layers of uncertainty regarding the skills and competencies that will be in demand after the pandemic is overcome.

The United Nations and its agencies,  such as UNESCO-UNEVOC, are well placed to help address these challenges by reducing access barriers to the world of work, ensuring that skills gained are recognized and certified, and offering skills development opportunities for out-of-school youth and those not in employment, education or training (NEET). During this Decade of Action for the 2030 Agenda, the full engagement of young people in global processes is vital to generate positive change and innovation.

Why is World Youth Skills Day important?

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. Since then, World Youth Skills Day events have provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policymakers, and development partners. Participants have highlighted the ever-increasing significance of skills as the world is embarking on a transition towards a sustainable model of development.

What role do technical and vocational education and training play?

Education and training are central to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The vision of the Incheon Declaration: Education 2030 is fully captured by Sustainable Development Goal 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Education 2030 devotes considerable attention to technical and vocational skills development, specifically regarding access to affordable quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET); the acquisition of technical and vocational skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship; the elimination of gender disparity and ensuring access for the vulnerable. In this context, TVET is expected to address the multiple demands of an economic, social, and environmental nature by helping youth and adults develop the skills they need for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship, promoting equitable, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, and supporting transitions to green economies and environmental sustainability.

TVET can equip youth with the skills required to access the world of work, including skills for self-employment. TVET can also improve responsiveness to changing skill demands by companies and communities, increase productivity and increase wage levels. TVET can reduce access barriers to the world of work, for example through work-based learning, and ensuring that skills gained are recognized and certified. TVET can also offer skills development opportunities for low-skilled people who are under- or unemployed, out-of-school youth, and individuals not in education, employment, and training (NEETs).

Credit: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-youth-skills-day

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Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, 27 June

Resilience and Rebuilding: MSMEs for sustainable development at the forefront of building back better and stronger from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, and conflicts

The United Nations General Assembly designated 27 June as “Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day” (A/RES/71/279) to raise awareness of the tremendous contributions of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

MSMEs account for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment, and 50% of GDP worldwide. As the backbone of societies everywhere, they contribute to local and national economies and to sustaining livelihoods, in particular among the working poor, women, youth, and groups in vulnerable situations.

This year, the International Trade Centre (ITC) marks the 5th anniversary of MSME Day, and small businesses are more than ever in need of support, as they navigate the impacts of the COVID pandemic, conflicts, and the climate crisis. They are the hardest hit by these multiple shocks, and at the same time play a critical role in building back stronger.

MSMEs have to become more resilient to future shocks, and efforts and stimulus packages must target those most heavily affected by disruptions to global supply chains, rising inflation, and the continuing ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Policymakers must move beyond recovery and consider ways in which to lower and eliminate barriers faced by MSMEs, and improve the business environment and access to finance, markets and technology in these fragile times. It is critical that countries and their development partners continue to support and empower MSMEs and unlock their full potential through inspiring innovation, creativity, and decent work for all.

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Low Birthweight and Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Low Birthweight and Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Source - adapted from UNICEF 2007. Description - Graph shows the percentage of infants weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth, thus having low birth weight.

Undernutrition also occurs in utero. Babies born at full term but who are very small (under 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds) have suffered from intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

The most significant cause of IUGR-related low birthweight is poor maternal nutrition. Other factors include woman’s small size, infections (including malaria and HIV/AIDS), smoking (and second-hand smoke), and indoor air pollution.

About 11 percent of infants born at full term in developing countries are born with low birthweight. The highest prevalence is in South Asia. The incidence of low birthweight seems to have remained roughly constant since around 2000.

Poor fetal growth contributes to birth asphyxia and infections, which account for 60 percent of neonatal deaths. Low birthweight babies are 20 times more likely to die in infancy than heavier babies. They are also more likely to suffer from chronic diseases as adults.

(Sources: Black et al. 2013, 2008; Conde-Agudelo 2002; EC-FAO Programme on Linking Information and Decision Making to Improve Food Security 2007; UNICEF 2007; Zhu, B P et al. 1999.)

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Wasting in Children

One in 13 children, or 50 million children under five, is estimated to be wasted. South-Central Asia has the highest prevalence of wasting (14.2 percent) and also the highest numbers of children affected (34.3 million).

This regional pattern is the same for severe wasting, which is often the criterion for admission to therapeutic feeding interventions. The prevalence of severe wasting in developing countries is 2.4 percent, or 16 million children.

Children who are wasted need immediate attention. Prevalence of wasting may be high in specific seasons (e.g., the diarrhea season) or in periods of food insecurity. Where there is a strong correlation between child wasting and maternal nutritional status, wasting is likely related to food insecurity rather than disease.

(Children who are severely wasted suffer from severe acute malnutrition, or SAM, which is discussed under Identifying Acute Malnutrition.)

(Sources: Black et al. 2013; EC-FAO Programme on Linking Information and Decision Making to Improve Food Security 2007; UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group 2015)

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Stunting in Children

In 2015, 159 million children were stunted, indicating chronic deficiencies occuring over time – caused by recurrent infections and poor diet. Forty countries have a stunting prevalence of 40 percent or more.

The prevalence of stunting is highest in Africa, but the largest number of stunted children is in south-Central Asia (69 million).

Countries in Asia have made greater progress in reducing stunting over the last 2 decades than those in Africa, however.

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Undernutrition

The second target of the Sustainable Development Goal for Hugner (SDG-2) includes ending “all forms of malnutrition”, including acheiving, by 2025, “the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age.”

Stunting refers to low height-for-age. Stunting results from a failure to grow over time and reflects chronic deficiency.

Wasting refers to low weight-for-height. A wasted child appears very thin. Wasting can take place rapidly and reflects current (or recent) deprivation.

Underweight can be a result of either stunting or wasting (or both), so these two indicators are considered more precise. Although the conditions can overlap, they have different determinants (and respond to different interventions). In children, underweight refers to low weight-for-age. 

(Source: Black et al. 2013, 2008; UN Sustainable Development 2015)

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Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a general term meaning literally “bad” nutrition. It encompasses both undernutrition and overnutrition.

Undernutrition refers to a lack of one or more nutrients – reflected in anthropometric measurements (such as height and weight), in clinical signs, or through biochemical tests. (These are discussed further in the session “Nutrition Assessment and Indicators.”)

Overnutrition, which includes both overweight and obesity, is increasingly common in the developing world. Over-consumption (of calories and/or specific nutrients) can lead to high blood pressure and stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and certain kinds of cancer.  

Countries with large prevalences of both undernutrition and overnutrition are said to experience a double burden of malnutrition. Some families even experience this seeming contradiction within their households, with some members suffering from undernutrition while others are overweight or obese.

Nutrition indicators of primary interest in the developing world still focus overwhelmingly on those related to undernutrition, particularly for young children and women in their childbearing years.

(Sources: Black et al. 2013, EC-FAO Programme on Linking Information and Decision Making to Improve Food Security 2007, Shrimpton 2013, WHO 2012)

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Nutrition and Food Quality

Nutrition and Food Quality (Dietary Diversity)

Good nutrition requires not only appropriate quantity of food (or energy) but adequate quality. A quality diet is defined by its diversity, or the number of different types of foods eaten.

A diverse diet includes foods that provide protein. The best sources of protein are animal-source foods (including meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products), and these are generally the most expensive. Plant-source foods include beans, legumes, nuts, and grains. A variety of plant-source food must be eaten over the course of a day to benefit from complete protein.

A diverse diet also includes foods that provide essential vitamins and minerals (called micronutrients because only small amounts are needed). The importance of vitamin A, iron, iodine, and zinc are particularly well established.

“Hidden hunger” is a term used to refer to poor micronutrient status because it is not linked to calories or quantity of food per se.

A diverse diet is important not only because it contains nutrients we know are important, but also many whose role we might not yet understand.

Poor families tend to have monotonous diets consisting mainly of whatever starchy foods are easily available and cheap. When measured at the household level, dietary diversity reflects a family’s access to food. Household dietary diversity is therefore a key indicator of food security. It affects the nutritional status of individual family members.

(Sources: USAID/CSHGP 2007; Swindale and Bilinsky 2006)

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What is Good Nutrition?

Good nutrition is fundamental to growth and cognitive development; to produce energy for the body to stay warm, move, and work; to resist and fight infections; and to support reproduction and nourish new life.

The immune system relies on proteins, carbohydrates and fats, and micro-nutrients: vitamins and minerals. By improving individual cell function as well as interactions between cells, adequate nutrition strengthens resilience to fight infection.

An adequate supply of micro-nutrients such as iron, vitamin A and iodine is necessary for ideal learning, attention and memory, proper development of motor skills, appropriate emotional expression and resilience to stress.

The science of nutrition is complex. Our understanding of the range and importance of nutrients and the chemical processes involved in their utilization is always advancing, leading to revised policies and new interventions.

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Nutrition – More than Food

Good nutrition requires:

  • Access to food on a regular basis
  • Consumption of adequate quantity and quality of nutrients each day
  • Prevention or treatment of the many nutrition-related threats caused by unhealthy environments and infectious disease

Eating is a social activity and often a care-giving activity, especially for children and those who are sick or have special needs (such as pregnant women). Time, knowledge, and skills are important factors in nutrition.

Food is steeped in social and cultural tradition, influencing how ingredients are acquired and prepared, as well as who consumes what and when. Food and status are closely connected. Gender issues permeate almost every aspect of nutrition.

Efforts to improve the nutritional status of a population inevitably confront questions of resources and equity. Poor nutrition is both a consequence and a cause of poverty. For this reason, program efforts often distinguish between short- and long-route strategies for change, according to how deep the targeted determinants lie within the structure of a given society.

(Sources: Bhutta el al. 2008; Black et al. 2008; The World Bank 2006)