A job can begin with a skill: West Africa adopts the Freetown Declaration on youth employment

More than 100 senior officials and experts have closed three days of talks in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by adopting the Freetown Declaration on Youth Employment — time-bound commitments on skills, jobs and economic transformation for a region full of young people looking for a first foothold. The recommendations are practical: stronger youth institutions, investment in job-creating sectors, closer links between education and the labour market, digital and entrepreneurial skills, apprenticeships whose informal learning gets assessed and certified, and support for young people outside education, work or training. Sierra Leone's planning minister Kenyeh Barlay urged the region to move beyond declarations and show the political will to deliver; delegates agreed short-term actions within three months and medium-term steps within 18 months, with a tracking system to measure progress.

SDG 8 · Decent work and economic growth — Mechanism: policy reform