Share your voice on World Day for Social Justice

In 2012, young voices calling for social justice and the opportunity for a decent job continue to grow in number. Young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than adults; worldwide over 75 million youth are looking for work.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is inviting you to share your message for World Day of Social Justice – a message of hope, a call to the international community, advice for others – you decide.

Youth employment

For the first time in generations, young women and men have a harder time finding a job and ways to make a decent living than their parents.

Without swift and innovative solutions, we could be faced with a ‘lost generation’ of young people entirely detached from the labour market and who have lost all hope of finding decent work.

Recent protests – from the Occupy movements, to the Arab Spring uprisings and the Top-Up Fees protests in the UK – show that young people are unhappy with the status quo and not afraid to voice their concerns.

The figures don’t lie… Worldwide, young people are experiencing a jobs crisis.

Watch the new video "Voices of Youth on Social Justice" featured below, share your voice on ILO's YouTube channel and engage with the youth employment issue on Facebook.com/youth.ilo .

The General Assembly proclaimed 20 February as World Day of Social Justice in 2007, inviting Member States to devote the day to promoting national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly.

As we look to the upcoming Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, we have a chance to rethink development strategies and business practices so that they point us toward a more sustainable and equitable future. Sustainability depends on building markets that do a better job of spreading the benefits of development. It means meeting growing consumer demand for greener products and services. And it means laying the foundations for dignity, stability and opportunity for all. As we strive to make this transformation, we must integrate social inclusion into our policies and other efforts.

Secretary-General's Message for 2012
http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/sgmessage.shtml

“A new era of social justice”: Statement by Juan Somavia, ILO Director General, On the occasion of World Day of Social Justice- 20 February 2012
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/statements-and-speeches/WCMS_173451/lang--en/index.htm