800 million young people face a future without jobs

Approximately 800 million young people entering the labour market in developing economies over the coming years will not find jobs unless countries act, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned on Tuesday, as the agency launched two initiatives to boost investment and employment.“If you look at the next 15 years, there will be 1.2 billion young people graduating from school, going into the labour market,” UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo told a press briefing in New York from Bangkok, where he is attending the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings. “Unfortunately, for only 400 million of these, there will be jobs. For 800 million of these, there will not be jobs.”Mr. De Croo said the gap was driven by demographics – in many developing countries, the median age is between 18 and 25 – and that the job projections were based on the current state of technology.“That is not going to go by itself. This is the result of policy,” he said.From investment to jobsOf the two initiatives, the Investment Accelerator will help governments improve investment policies and legal frameworks, build pipelines of investment-ready projects and move them from...