According to a report by SENA, the percentage of inactive youth is 41.4%. A major project for youth employability is being implemented in the country.

In Colombia, the productive sector is going through a serious crisis due to the considerable raise of youth unemployment. According to data from DANE, around 41.4% of youngsters are inactive; within this percentage, around 17.7% are unemployed youngsters.

In order to cut down this figures, the Pacific Alliance and the European Union will start an international cooperation project to improve employability index among Colombian youth.

“This is a very important project, as it addresses employability and labour. Not only, is it important for the Pacific Alliance member countries, but also for Europe”, says Carlos Orefice, professor at the University of Siena, Italy.

According to experts, 1 out of 5 youngsters in Latin America cannot get a job due to the “divorce” between the education sector and the business world.

In this context, and due to the Erasmus + program of the European Union, on April 12, Mexico, Peru, Chile, and Colombia, launched the international cooperation project Emplea-ap, with a nearly one million euros investment. This project expects to develop the Regional Labour Observatory of the Pacific Alliance, among other actions.