Addressing youth unemployment has become increasingly urgent in the face of a deteriorating security situation where criminal and radical groups have penetrated many parts of Mali.

Another Perspective is The Broker’s new blog. The title reflects The Broker’s ambition to look at globalization issues in different ways. Through this blog, we also keep our followers up to date on matters that concern us.

Another Perspective is The Broker’s new blog. The title reflects The Broker’s ambition to look at globalization issues in different ways. Through this blog, we also keep our followers up to date on matters that concern us.

You can read it in the newspapers every day: national economies are not creating enough jobs and fewer quality jobs in the productive sectors. Globalization, automation and financialization of the economy have been identified as the drivers of current employment trends.

Young people represent more than 60% of Africa’s population. Entrepreneurship, if supported through the right policies, can provide an effective solution to persistent youth unemployment.

It is a political choice to allow the spread of insecure employment conditions, for example by deregulating the relationship between employers and employees. It is also a political choice to reverse this trend, but one that requires a broader understanding of the global economic context in which policy decisions have to be made. And this should be a concern for all, not only for the ‘losers’ of globalization. Increasing job insecurity and low wages have a negative impact on macroeconomic development and growth. (This is a discussion paper in preparation for the FNV Mondiaal conference on precarious work on 27 and 28 November 2014. Download the report as a PDF file.)