Introduction (Key issues)

• OECD – Stefano Scarpetta (Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs)
• G20 Presidency – Margaret Kidd  (Co-chair of the G20 Taskforce on Employment)
• European Commission – Detlef Eckert (Director, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)

Session I. Setting the scene

Chair: Stefano Scarpetta (Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD)

• Overview of the labour market situation of youth and key challenges for strengthening apprenticeship programmes (Mark Keese, Head of the Division for Employment Analysis and Policy, OECD)
• ILO initiatives to promote quality apprenticeships (Christine Evans-Klock, Chief, Skills and Employability Branch, Employment Policy Department, ILO)
• Promoting apprenticeships: the role of the B20 (Brent Wilton, Secretary General of the International Organization of Employers – IEO) and L20 (Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation – ITUC)
• Discussion with country delegates and other stakeholders

Session II. Ensuring access to high-quality programmes

Chair: Detlef Eckert (Director of Europe 2020: Employment policies, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission)

• Bob Shepard (Director, Office of International Relations, U.S. Department of Labor, United States) on plans to strengthen the US apprenticeship system
• Roberto Szatmari (Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, Brazil) on plans to increase access to Brazil’s high quality apprenticeship system (notably through the PRONATEC programme)
• Catherine Yan Wang (Director of the Department for International Cooperation at the National Institute of Education Sciences, China) on apprenticeships versus the more frequent vocational training programmes in China
• Mathias Scholz (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany) on the transition system 
• Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée (Présidente du Conseil d'orientation pour l'emploi, France) on how to promote apprenticeships in France
• Discussion with country delegates and other stakeholders

Session III. Making apprenticeships more valuable to youth

Chair: Azita Berar Awad (Director of the  Employment Policy Department, ILO)

• Hilary Steedman (Centre for Economic Performance LSE, UK) on careers guidance and the development of apprenticeship in high-value industries
• Craig Robertson (Head of Skills Connect Division, Department of Industry, Australia) on the challenges of substantial dropouts in apprenticeship programmes and possible solutions
• Marta Novick (Undersecretary of Technical Programming and Labor Studies, Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Seguridad Social, Argentina) on the quality apprenticeship programmes in Argentina
• Jooseop Kim [TBC] (Senior Researcher, KLI, Korea) on the challenge of making apprenticeships, and Vocational Education and Training in general, more attractive to Korea’s youth
• Holly Ransom, Representative from Y20 on the importance of apprenticeships for youth
• Discussion with country delegates and other stakeholders

Session IV. Making apprenticeships more attractive to employers

Chair:  Craig Robertson (Head of Skills Connect Division, Department of Industry, Australia)

• The point of view of firms:
  • Antoine FOUCHER, Director of  Social Affairs MEDEF
  • Erol Kiresepi, Vice President of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK) and Chairman and CEO of Santa Farma, presentation
• The point of view of trade unions
  • Hermann Nehls (DGB Germany), presentation
• Discussion  with country delegates and other stakeholders

Conclusions

Chair: Stefano Scarpetta (Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD) will summarise the key messages emerging from the conference

• Final words by Georg Fischer (Director of Analysis, Evaluation, External Relations, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission)
• Final words by Margaret Kidd (Co-chair of the G20 Taskforce on Employment, Australia’s G20 Presidency)