Empowering Tomorrow’s Workforce

Jakarta, 27 September 2023 –  In collaboration with Business and Children’s Rights and BINUS Business School, we recently hosted the “National Dialogue on Youth and Business: Shaping the Future of Employment and Decent Work” at BINUS @ Senayan – fX Campus. The event aimed to foster a meaningful dialogue on the vital nexus between skill development, employability, and the youth. 

The summit underscored the importance of aligning business practices with children’s rights, drawing inspiration from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While recognising that children’s rights in the corporate world is evolving, the summit served as a pivotal platform for over 50 participants from diverse backgrounds. Students, representatives from civic organisations, and entrepreneurs engaged in a fruitful discussion on empowering children and young people with the requisite skills, health, and education to compete and realise their full potential effectively. This discussion gains added significance as Indonesia and the ASEAN region approach their demographic peak in 2045. 

Acknowledging the barriers young people face, including financial and international constraints in accessing alternative skill-building opportunities, participants deliberated on the role of technology in shaping the future of employment services and education systems. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation of these systems emerged as a central theme, promising enhanced service effectiveness and accessibility, thereby significantly impacting labor market outcomes and pathways for young people. 

“This event has been beneficial for us in designing businesses, which is a part of our curriculum in the first semester and coincidentally must be aligned to SDGs. I have gained incredible insights from participants with diverse backgrounds. We hope this event will continue, especially for the younger generation, so we can be more concerned and understand the issues better,” said Dimas Adiyasa Hartanto, a master’s degree student from BINUS Business School’s Creative Marketing Program.  

UNICEF and the Business and Children’s Rights Working Group (BCRWG), together with BINUS Business School, will facilitate discussions at the national and sub-national levels within the last quarter of 2023 to explore the interests and challenges of adolescents and young people and address the concerns of vulnerable groups, such as adolescent girls, individuals with disabilities, indigenous communities, and those in need of special protection by aligning with the SDG 8.   

Looking ahead, UNICEF, the Business and Children’s Rights Working Group (BCRWG), and BINUS Business School will extend the discourse beyond the summit as a step towards a more inclusive and sustainable future, ensuring that the dialogue initiated at the summit resonates far beyond its concluding moments.