THE Global Risks Report 2021 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) last month contained a comprehensive report of the various global risks perceived in short, medium and long term by world populations. The study is a good instrument for countries to create strategies in the face of these serious risks. Part of the study is a closer look at how young adults, age 15 to 24, around the world are experiencing many global crises within a decade, the pandemic, climate change phenomena, economic recession, unemployment, and violence. The WEF called these age range as "pandemials" who will face serious challenges to their education, economic prospects and mental health.
The young generation today has been born to an era of environmental degradation, rising inequality, vicious violence, and social disruption due to digital industrial transformation. How do we help save these pandemials as leaders in our respective spheres?
According to the 2021 Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS), "youth disillusionment" is a top neglected risk that will become a critical threat to the world over the next two years. The Global Shapers
Community, WEF's network of young people driving dialogue, action and change referred to "youth disillusionment" as a "blind spot." This generation is confronted with various risks, namely, mental health deterioration, livelihood crises and infectious diseases (short term or 0-2 years); information technology (IT) infrastructure breakdown, resource geopolitization, price instability, and asset bubble burst (medium term or 3-5 years); and weapons of mass destruction, multilateralism collapse and state collapse (long term or 5-10 years).
The impending threat is massive unemployment. WEF stressed that entry level jobs today require more skills than they did a decade ago, and, at the same time, there are fewer available because of automation. Lack of job prospects will force young workers to search for better opportunities abroad and leave their home countries. In addition to this, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health has deteriorated for 80 percent of children and young people across the globe. In May 2020, the World Economic Forum's Covid-19 Risks Report warned of a "next lost generation". "Pandemials" the report says, are at risk of becoming the double lost generation of the 21st century.
The WEF pointed out various new ways of learning that have the potential to be more inclusive, adaptive and comprehensive, enabling students to develop 21st century skills such as creativity, innovation and advanced inter-personal skills. However, it is more critical than ever for the public and the private sector to invest jointly in ensuring connectivity for all youth. Given the fast-changing nature of the job market, more investment is also needed in vocational and on-the-job training. Investment in educational technology must be accompanied by adaptations of the physical educational infrastructure so schools can continue to offer in-person services while harnessing the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To be successful, schools must maintain their critical role in providing nutrition, physical and psychological health services, and in acting as safe havens for at-risk children and adolescents.
The WEF strongly recommends for the need to address the mental and physical health situations of youths from the outset of economic and societal recovery to minimize the yet-unknown long-term effects of the pandemic and its consequences. The digital leap forward and emerging digital tools can increase youth accessibility to support measures and reduce the stigmatization of mental health issues originating from these chaotic and uncertain times.
Beyond these short-term investments, more needs to be done in the long run. Young people are demanding more egalitarian, equitable and sustainable societies, yet they continue to face unnecessary barriers and blocked pathways. Channels must be strengthened to enable youth to make their voices heard in all levels of government, on company boards and in multilateral organizations- which will in turn foster an intergenerational transfer of experience, knowledge and skills; serve as a bridge builder against societal frictions; and decrease youth frustrations.
Youth must be guaranteed a say in the global recovery. Failure to ensure youth a seat at the table risks entire societal and economic systems being rejected by this generation. Those in power must steward a global effort to open pathways for youth to acquire the necessary tools, skills and rights for a more sustainable post-pandemic world. (Excerpts from the Global Risks Report 2021)