Contents -- Introduction -- A youth employment crisis ofunprecedented proportions -- The ILO and youth employment -- The Conference's 2005 resolution: A call for comprehensive action -- Taking up the new global challenge:Time for action -- Structure and content of the report -- Chapter 1 The youth employment crisis: Trends,characteristics and new challenges -- 1.1. Trends in the youth population -- 1.1.1. Diversity in the demographic challenge -- 1.1.2. Turning the demographic challenge into the youth "dividend" -- 1.2. Trends in youth and labour markets -- 1.2.1. Declining labour force participation -- 1.2.2. Youth unemployment reaching unprecedented proportions -- 1.2.3. Lower quality jobs for youth: Working poverty,low pay and informality -- 1.2.4. New challenges in youth transition to decent work -- 1.3. The increasing polarization and widening disadvantages among young people -- 1.4. Future prospects -- Figure -- 1.1. Regional distribution of the youth population, 2012 -- 1.2. Average annual youth population growth, world and regions, 1990-2050 -- 1.3. Global youth and adult unemployment rates and youth unemployment, 1991-2012 -- 1.4. Global youth unemployment and unemployment rate, 1991-2012 -- 1.5. Youth unemployment rate by region, 1991-2012 -- 1.6. Youth unemployment rates in selected countries, 2007 and 2011 -- 1.7. Working poverty estimates, youth and adult cohorts, for selected countries -- 1.8. Gap in labour force participation rates between working poor youth (below US1.25a day) and working youth (above US2 a day), for selected countries -- 1.9. Percentage of young and adult workers in the informal economy in selected countries -- 1.10. Proportion of young temporary workers who could not find permanent employmentin selected European countries, 2007 and 2010.

1.11. Official youth unemployment rates and adjusted rates accountingfor reduced labour force participation, 2010 -- 1.12. Youth labour force participation rates by sex,1990 and 2011 -- 1.13. Youth unemployment rate (per cent), by sex and region,preliminary estimates for 2011 -- Box -- 1.1The three stages of demographic transition -- Table -- 1.1. OECD average scoreboard for youth aged 15-24, 2000 and 2010 -- Chapter 2 Decent work policies for youth:Key issues and lessons learnt -- 2.1. Youth employment: A rising priorityin the national policy agendas -- 2.2. The growth strategy, macroeconomic policy environment and youth employment -- 2.2.1. Rethinking pro-employment macroeconomic policy frameworks -- 2.3. Education and training -- 2.3.1. Basic education: Challenges of access and quality -- 2.3.2. Second chance initiatives -- 2.3.3. Tertiary education and graduate unemployment -- 2.3.4. Strengthening the link between education and training systems and the world of work -- 2.3.5. Reforms to technical vocational educationand training (TVET) -- 2.3.6. Apprenticeship, internship, on-the-job training schemes and training contracts -- 2.4. Labour market policies and institutions -- 2.4.1. Active labour market policies -- 2.4.2. Employment services -- 2.4.3. Wage subsidies, minimum wage and youth employment -- 2.4.4. Employment contracts, protection and integration of youth in the labour market -- 2.4.5. Transition to formality -- 2.4.6. Lessons learned -- 2.5. Promoting youth entrepreneurship and self-employment -- 2.5.1. Impact of youth entrepreneurship programmes -- 2.6. Promotion of youth employment through cooperatives -- 2.7. Public Investment and Employment Programmes (PEPs) -- 2.8. International labour standards and youth employment -- 2.9. Social protection for young workers.

2.9.1. Unemployment benefits: Coverage of young unemployed persons with some work experience -- 2.9.2. Unemployment benefits: Linkages to active labour market policies -- 2.9.3. Social security coverage of youth for risksother than unemployment -- 2.10. Youth participation, social dialogue and collective bargaining -- 2.10.1. Collective bargaining and youth -- 2.11. Policy coherence, coordination and evaluation -- Box -- 2.1 Peru's national action plan for youth employment -- 2.2Tackling the graduate unemployment problem in China -- 2.3Anticipating skills needs -- 2.4TVET reforms in selected countries -- 2.5Dual system apprenticeships open doors to the world of work -- 2.6Bridging the gap between formal and informal apprenticeships -- 2.7The role of employment services in youth employment promotion in the EU -- 2.8ALMPs and youth in Serbia -- 2.9Youth employment measures adopted during the recent crisis -- 2.10ILO survey on business climate perceptions of young entrepreneursin Indonesia -- 2.11Lessons learned from successful youth entrepreneurship programmes -- 2.12Employment-intensive investment programmes for young people in Mali -- 2.13The Expanded Public Works Programmes in South Africa -- Figure -- 2.1. Correlation between youth and adult unemployment rates, 2010 -- 2.2. Percentage point differences in the share of unemployed among the out-of-schoolpopulation for those with less than upper secondary education and those with uppersecondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education, for 20-24 and 25-29 year-olds -- 2.3. Total out-of-school adolescents of lower secondary school age (in thousands) by region, 2007 -- 2.4. Youth unemployment in countries with strong apprenticeship systems -- 2.5. Coverage for first-time jobseekers in statutory unemployment benefit schemes,by country income level.

2.6. Percentage of unemployed persons receiving unemployment benefits, by sex and age,in selected countries -- 2.7. Coverage of youth by contributory social security schemes (social insurance) inselected countries, as a percentage of wage employment -- 2.8. Coverage of youth by contributory social security schemes (social insurance)in selected countries, as a percentage of total employment -- Table -- 2.1. Examples of targeted interventions to promote jobs for young people:A demand-side perspective -- 2.2. Youth literacy by region, 2008 -- 2.3. Impact of youth entrepreneurship programmes -- 2.4. Collective agreements on youth employment in selected countries -- Chapter 3 ILO support to youth employment and global partnerships -- 3.1. The ILO support strategy -- 3.2. Global partnerships for youth employment -- 3.2.1. The Millennium Declaration, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the UN system -- 3.2.2. The Youth Employment Network (YEN) -- 3.2.3. The G20 and youth employment -- 3.2.4. Other partnerships -- Figure -- 3.1. ILO support strategy for youth employment -- 3.2. Country level model for technical assistance on youth employment -- 3.3. DWCPs including youth employment outcomes -- Box -- 3.1Results from selected ILO projects on youth employment -- 3.2The school-to-work transition surveys (SWTS) of young people -- 3.3The MDG Achievement Fund: Improving coordination and coherence on youth employment through joint UN programming -- 3.4The Youth Employment Network: Key areas of actions -- 3.5The UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development -- 3.6A Skilled Workforce for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth:A G20 Training Strategy -- 3.7Work4Youth (W4Y) -- Chapter 4 Summary remarks and possible ways forward -- Suggested points for discussion -- Appendix I -- Appendix II.