Every year on 15 July, UNESCO-UNEVOC joins the celebration of World Youth Skills Day (WYSD). The celebration celebrates the strategic importance of young people acquiring skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, and highlights the critical role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges.

World Youth Skills Day 2020 took place under challenging conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures have resulted in the closure of vocational education and training (VET) institutions worldwide, jeopardizing the continuity of skills development. Respondents to a survey of VET institutions jointly compiled by UNESCO, the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank reported that distance learning has become the most common way of transferring skills, with significant difficulties associated, in particular, with the adaptation of curricula, trainee readiness and teachers, connectivity, and assessment and certification processes.

Almost one in six young people are out of work due to COVID-19. As young people are called to contribute to recovery efforts, they must have the skills to successfully cope with emerging challenges and adapt to future disruptions.