Philippine cities could be left with a “demographic bomb” of unemployed youth who could engage in urban crimes, if the government fails to invest in their education and skills, according to Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).
This was part of the National Report on “Better, Greener, Smarter Cities in an Inclusive Philippines” submitted by Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo at the UN Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador. Robredo is also the chairman of the HUDCC.
The youth bulge of the Philippines could be the solution to reaping the country’s demographic dividend or the curse that will worsen the plight of the poor in cities nationwide.
“The result will be one big missed opportunity for the Philippines to reap the potentially sizable demographic dividends. Worse, the country can be confronted by a demographic bomb, with a large mass of frustrated youth engaged in urban crimes or causing social and political instability,” the report stated.
About 27.6 percent of the country’s population belong to the 15- to 29-year-old age group, and has a predominantly young population.
Combined with an additional 33.4 percent of Filipinos below 15 years old, it could be estimated that around 60 percent of the Philippine population is below 30 years old.
Citing the World Bank, the HUDCC said having a large number of young people who cannot find work and decent incomes could result in social and political instability.
“Without the necessary investments in education and technical, as well as life, skills development for the youth, the country’s vast population of young people will end up becoming unproductive or unemployed,” the HUDCC said.
This is the reason Robredo included the youth on a six-point agenda that she bared at the conference in Quito, Ecuador.
The agenda includes the need to invest in human capital through education and skills, and capacitate local governments to plan for a rapidly urbanizing population.
She said there is also a need to mainstream climate-change adaptation and disaster risk reduction through land-use planning. Without these, the country faces the reduction or eradication of the gains of city-centered economic growth.
“Investment in education and skills development for them is needed, so they can become the driving force of the fast-modernizing, urban economy,” Robredo said in her statement.
The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development or Habitat III is the third global summit that aims to generate the world’s New Urban Agenda.
It is one of the first global conferences after the Post-2015 Development Agenda or the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which has a goal dedicated to making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The seven targets of the goal include ensuring access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services, as well as the upgrade of slums worldwide.
The targets also include enhancing the inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human-settlement planning and management in all countries.
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