A key aim of COPLA is to address the effect of trade policies on those who are socially excluded.

The paper prepared by UNESCO examines the phenomenon of youth employment within export oriented manufacturing industries. The chapter looks at the role of globalisation on young people and finds that while globalisation has indeed created employment opportunities for youth it has been at the expense of decreased security and labour conditions.

This paper looks at the background of youth development programmes and why they are significant to both firms and youth. The paper looks in detail at both the projects implemented in Chile and Argentina and reviews the difficulties with these programmes.

This paper looks at the social, political and economic context in Latin America and the repercussions these have on employment opportunities for youth and youth exclusion. The author focuses on three main policies in order to overcome youth employment problems: 1. Education 2. Training 3. Instruction. In terms of social exclusion the paper explores regional programmes against segmentation i.e. “Chile Joven”.

This article provides policies for structural unemployment, frictional unemployment and unemployment shifts. The main focus of the paper is on the policies necessary to avoid unemployment shifts. These policies include:
· Direct job creation
· Subsidies to employers
· Self-employment options
In terms of self-employment policies, these policies are directed towards youth, as entrepreneurial skills can be acquired more easily by youth then by adults.

This policy analysis looks at the economic relationships between sectors: where formal and informal sectors are intimately linked in terms of youth and adult workers, where skilled workers and their shortages exist throughout all sectors of the economy, and where downsizing and technical change shed large numbers of unskilled labour to the informal sector.

The paper focuses on two kinds of policy intervention – preventative and curative. A preventative intervention tries to counteract the processes that generate a problem; a curative intervention tries to deal with their consequences. In the case of poverty, for instance, a curative intervention will find out where the poor are and try to alleviate their situation; a preventative intervention will analyze the causes of poverty and devise strategies to prevent it.

This paper analysis the basic facts surrounding the problem of youth unemployment in the Southern Cone countries in the 1990s, as well as its causes, consequences and solutions.

This paper explores the problems, prospects and options of unemployed youth in Latin America and the Caribbean. The author describes the employment situation of young people in this region as critical, dynamic and segmented. The author explores the uncertain future in Latin America by looking at the political and socio-economic prospects and the impact of youth unemployment on society.

This policy paper examines the dynamics of the youth labor market in Latin America. The school-to-work transition is its point of departure and provides the context for explaining the nature, scope, and range of youth unemployment and underemployment in Latin America. The aim of the paper is to explore the country differences that are essential when planning and implementing youth programs.

This paper looks at unemployment of youths in Latin America in terms of time allocation

Youth employment problems affect not only the welfare of young people themselves but also some key elements of socio-economic development in general. This article examines the circumstances, origins and consequences of these problems and reviews the statistical information available on recent trends in youth employment variables. The figures show that the occupational position of young people has deteriorated in absolute terms along with labour markets generally and that, contrary to some expectations, it has not improved in relative terms either.

This chapter looks at how employment in the LAC region has undergone transformations characterized by increasing job insecurity over the past twenty years.

In order to explore youth in Latin America this chapter looks at the socio economic and political changes undergone in Latin America over the last 30 years. The chapter emphasises how new democratic governments, changes to economic reforms, social transformations and demographic shifts have together affected the life of youths. The chapter also focuses on the changes in educational opportunities within Latin America, rising unemployment rate, declining wages of youths, international migration and youth poverty

This paper focuses on general socioeconomic trends in the context of Latin America, highlighting some of the most difficult problem areas that these trends are generating among young people.
The paper dismantles certain myths that circulate around young people and finally provides policy recommendations to solve these problems.

This Report provides an overview of the youth unemployment rate in Latin America focusing on non-precarious, precarious, unemployed, inactive as well as those who are unemployed and not studying. The main purpose of this Report is to contribute towards actions for creating conditions for young people in Latin America to obtain productive jobs and to be able to progress in decent employment.