Pacific Regional Youth Employment Scan

Abstract

This report considers the issue of youth employment in the Pacific and options for policy engagement that might be supported by the Pacific Leadership Program (PLP). It applies a developmental leadership lens to assess the politics of youth employment issues and labour market reform challenges that need to be addressed to improve employment outcomes for young peoplein the region.

It should be clear from the outset that this report does not seek to make comprehensive recommendations to improve youth employment outcomes. The complexity of the youth employment challenges across the region puts them beyond the capacity of any donor or development program to address alone. In addition, it is not within PLP’s mandate or resource capacity to engage holistically with the range of issues that contribute to the youth employment challenge experienced in each of its focus countries and at the Pacific regional level. As such, the report approaches youth employment from a developmental leadership and policy reform perspective. It considers the nature of the policy challenges involved with youth employment issues, the politics that contribute to those challenges and possible entry points for supporting policy reforms that might bring about better youth employment outcomes. In making programming recommendations to guide PLP’s engagement with the issue of youth employment, the report focuses on those reform issues that PLP has a comparative advantage with which to engage constructively.