Discover OECD work on youth

There is no time more apt than now for world leaders and multilateral institutions to re-examine their approach to youth policy and include young leaders at the table. If we do not collectively address and incorporate youth voices in our formula for a post-COVID world, we run the risk of a lost and forgotten generation of talent and minds.

The OECD launched a call for its staff from Generations Y and Z to voice their ideas on how countries can emerge from the COVID-19 crisis and chart an inclusive and resilient recovery. Discover the 10 most innovative ones, capturing the younger generations' priorities for a better future.

The social economy provides us with a credible mechanism to drive socially and environmentally responsible practices across the board, playing a repairing role in alleviating the crisis and transforming economic activity in an inclusive and sustainable way.

Cleaner air quality, healthier water, effective waste management, and enhanced biodiversity protection not only reduce our vulnerability to pandemics and improve resilience, but have the potential to boost economic activity, generate income, create jobs, and reduce inequalities.

To do this, we need to tackle the inequalities that existed well before this pandemic and are now getting worse. Governments have many levers to make this happen. G20 Governments need to keep acting boldly to make sure that the recovery benefits everyone.

In a post-COVID world, governments have a unique chance for a green and inclusive recovery that they must seize. Otherwise future generations will be responsible not only for repaying the massive debt that is now being built up, but also for shouldering the burden of dealing with future crises.

COVID-19 is an opportunity to roll back the most distorting and wasteful forms of policy support, releasing scarce financial resources for investments in open and predictable markets and productive, sustainable, and resilient food systems.