Nestlé, through the program “Nestlé Needs YOUth” to promote youth employment in Latin America, developed the first Pacific Alliance Youth Summit on May 19^th in Lima, Peru.

The event gathered around 1,000 people, most of the young students and workers of the Pacific Alliance, as well as representatives of the ministries of Labour and Education of Chile, Peru, Colombia y Mexico.

The goal of the summit was to analyse the current scenario and challenges of the labour situation for Latin American youth. It focused on the initiatives of the governments in the region to diminish the 13% youth unemployment rate and reduce the 2 million Neets these countries have.

In 2015 Nestlé launched the program in the 4 countries of the Pacific Alliance, committing to creating 2,900 jobs and over 2,300 opportunities for apprentices, practitioners and grant holders in three years. The initiative includes developing programs to prepare youngsters to look for a job, reaching around 407,000 persons by 2018.

A keynote speaker of the event was Pedro Goic, national director of the National Service of Training and Employment (Sence). Goic talked about the labour training program that Sence promote during 2014, called +Capaz, whichs goal was to train 450 thousand people in different trades.

According to the numbers delivered by Goic, during the first year +Capaz trained over 95 thousand people, 50% of the youngsters and 80% women.

According to the director, new professions were identified and new opportunities have been generated. The program includes over 280 courses delivered in the 15 regions of the country, fitted to the regional needs and focused on the local workforce demand.

Source: Sence