World Youth Skills Day 2022: Transforming Youth Skills in Science, Technology and Innovation for the Future

Themed “Transforming Youth Skills for the Future”, the 9th World Youth Skills Day highlighted the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. The World Youth Skills Day 2022 also takes place amid concerted efforts towards socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and related challenges such as climate change, conflict, persisting poverty, rising inequality, rapid technological change and demographic transition.

Young people represent nearly 60% of the population in least developed countries. These young people will play a vital role in lifting least developed countries out of the challenges such as poverty and underdevelopment. Yet, over 67 million young people have limited opportunities beyond working in the informal economy in least developed countries. Therefore, governments and international communities should give priority to investment in the “skills of the future”, including education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Early access to learning about new technologies and the absence of age and gender discrimination contribute to nurturing a strong scientific and technology ecosystem in least developed countries. In light of this, the UN Technology Bank has committed to mainstreaming youth in our work as a high priority and essential for meeting the 2030 Vision of leaving no one behind.

Our International Design Education Program and UNTB Technology Makers Lab provide unique opportunities for youth skill development in science, technology and innovation.

International Design Education Program

The International Design Education (IDE) Program is designed to enhance the industrial design engineering capacity and competitiveness in least developed countries by providing scholarships for students from these countries to study industrial design engineering at the post-graduate level. The program is jointly organised by the UN Technology Bank, World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) and the Zhejiang University, Ningbo (ZJU, Ningbo). Scholarships have been awarded to 68 students from 19 least developed countries so far.

A range of design and technology focus modules are included, such as Integration and Innovation Design, Design Engineering, Design Management, Product Innovation and Business Model, Information Product Design and Practice and Engineering Ethics. The program is also designed to welcome students from diverse educational backgrounds for nurturing interdisciplinary designers.

The IDE program cultivates students' skills in design thinking, research, multicultural understanding, problem-solving, innovation and entrepreneurship. The program also encourages and supports students to develop their design ideas into business models to expand their real-world impact.

UNTB Technology Makers Lab

The UNTB Technology Makers Lab is designed for students at the high school level to gain core skills for the 21st century. The project is jointly developed by the UN Technology Bank, Ministry of Industry and Technology of Türkiye, Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye (TUBITAK), Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and National Agency for the Information Society (ANSI), Niger.

The project is developed based on the successful model “Deneyap” (Try & Do) implemented in 28 cities in Türkiye. The UNTB Technology Makers Lab will be a center equipped with high-technology equipment, that provides workshops for students to learn skills in cutting-edge technologies, such as design and production, robotics, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, mobile application development and coding. These hands-on and interactive workshops will also foster young people’s entrepreneurship, critical thinking, communication and teamwork skills. The project components including “training the trainers” ensure sustainable transfer of technical know-how​ and support the development of a solid knowledge ecosystem in least developed countries.

Niger has been chosen to be the pilot least developed country to help compliment its "Niger 2.0" strategy on technological development. The pilot will start to implement in the last quarter of 2022 and aims to train 10 000 students by 2030 in Niger. The aim is for the project to be expanded to 9 other least developed countries in the medium-term by replicating the model through partnerships with the UN entities, International Organizations and institutions active in the field of STI development.

Both the International Design Education Program and UNTB Technology Makers Lab are effective examples of South-South Cooperation in transferring know-how of the best practices in science, technology and innovation training to least developed countries. To commemorate Youth Skills Day 2022, the Technology Bank will continue with our youth-focus programs to narrow the science, technology and innovation gaps of least developed countries and contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Voice from Youth

We invited three students in the IDE program to share their experiences and skills learned. Mr MD Farhad Hossain, 24 years old from Bangladesh, Ms Malambo Lushomo, 22 years old and Mr Tehillah Hamwinde Hambweka Mulomba, 24 years old and both from Zambia.

Sharing about the skills learned from the program, Farhad said that technical skills such as graphic skills for designing have been very valuable for him in pursuit of his career. He also further shared that in his country, Bangladesh, knowledge in manufacturing, methods of distribution and marketing are needed and the skills he obtained in industrial design can be used in improving this sector. 

Both Malambo and Tehillah mentioned alongside the technical skills provided by the modules, the soft skills such as collaborative and communications skills, and serving as a team leader and team player are highly valuable. Tehillah further added that the human-centered perspective is key to addressing the problem of the lack of integration of green spaces in public infrastructure in Zambia. He has gained the capacity for using various frameworks and tools he can use to optimally identify and address people’s needs and also how to better communicate the value of these solutions.

Malambo has been equipped with the skills of being an avid and conscious problem solver. She is hoping that she can leverage these designing skills to contribute solutions to the pressing issues faced in Zambia: transportation systems, solutions to prevent power outages, and the production and manufacture of everyday products.

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed interruption on their learning and all three students mentioned a range of difficulties they have faced. Tehillah has been studying his program online, but poor connectivity and extremely costly internet services make it a challenge to attend classes and participate in discussions- even submitting assignments can be a problem. Malambo has had to undergo quarantine on several occasions which caused her some stress. However, they also agreed that the technical assistance from the faculty and the establishment of their personal learning routine have helped them to continue their learning during difficult times.