• Proposals would benefit 2.3 million young men and women in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico.
• They demand a comprehensive local care system, an option for higher secondary education connected to work and an employability policy, among others.
• Dialogues begin with candidates for the Head of Government to agree
  this agenda.

In the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City there are 2 million 351 thousand opportunity youth, who are people between 15 and 29 years old who come from adverse backgrounds, and who by having an opportunity for social, educational and work inclusion in decent conditions, contribute to the economic growth of the country and begin a process of social mobility.

Yesterday, April 3, 2024, young people from Opportunity presented a public policy agenda aimed at the teams of the candidates for the Head of Government of Mexico City that responds to the needs and challenges they face in the educational, labor and social fields.

During the presentation of the document Youth Opportunity in the City: Our Voice, Our Job, Our Impact, young people highlighted that 543 thousand youth opportunity in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City are outside the educational system, did not complete High School and do not have a job. 71% of youth opportunity in exclusion are women. In addition, of the 2 million 320 thousand youth with work, half, 1 million 150 thousand, have precarious jobs. This means that they do not have a sufficient salary, equivalent to the value of two basic baskets, and/or do not have social security. In this subset, 732 thousand (64%) are men and 418 thousand (36%) are women.

In the educational field, almost three out of ten opportunity youth, 659 thousand, are students living in poverty due to income. They are young people at risk of dropping out of school and subsequent exclusion, as they live in poverty, study in schools with low educational performance and are more likely to drop out of school.

In view of this year's electoral process, the document, which is the result of various roundtable discussions with representatives of civil society, businesses and government, and of the study "Youth Opportunity in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City: Data and Policies for Their Inclusion," developed by Citizen Action Against Poverty, aims to make the problem of youth opportunity visible to those who aspire to govern Mexico City in the coming years.

The public policy proposals that young people demand based on a diagnosis and various working groups are:

1. Multisectoral collaboration and co-responsibility
Implement a policy of collaboration and co-responsibility with the participation of young people of opportunity, the private sector and civil society, which includes education, decent work, entrepreneurship and care to improve the economic inclusion of young people of opportunity.

2. Comprehensive local care system
Guarantee a comprehensive, universal care system with infrastructure that meets the needs of both people requiring care services and their caregivers.

3. Comprehensive employability policy
Have an employability policy with a comprehensive approach to improve the employability of young people, including labour policies and programmes for linking them with the local labour market.

4. Strengthening technical and vocational training at the upper secondary level
Technical education must be revalued for its economic potential. Therefore, it is necessary, among other considerations, to expand the options for technical and vocational education programs in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, offering a variety of specialties aligned with the demands of the labor market and the needs of local economic development.

5. Create work-connected High School certification options
Upper secondary education is a basic foundation for young people to have the opportunity to access higher quality jobs. Technical training options focused on work should be opened and this should be considered equivalent to a higher secondary level certification.

6. Strengthen entrepreneurship and the social and solidarity economy
Promoting entrepreneurship and the social and solidarity economy as tools for economic and social development requires a combination of public policies, support programs, access to financing, promotion of collaboration and the strengthening of networks and alliances between various actors.

The event, held at Casa Cemefi, was attended by representatives of companies and chambers, and of the three political forces that will compete for the leadership of the government of Mexico City. In the coming weeks, the young people will meet bilaterally with the candidates to promote the public policy agenda for youth opportunity.

We trust that these proposals will be taken into account to generate public policies and precise government strategies aimed at addressing the development needs of this segment of the population in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City.

See full document at: https://juventudes.mx/wp-content/uploads/jet-engine-forms/27/2024/04/Agenda-Politicas-Publicas-JO.pdf