CNBC EMEA Hosts Inaugural Global Youth Employment Agenda Meeting

CNBC and The Blackstone Charitable Foundation will host a meeting on youth unemployment this Thursday and Friday, December 2nd and 3rd.

The Inaugural Global Youth Unemployment Agenda will address the troubling rise in youth unemployment across the globe and attempt to engage the public and private sectors.

Global unemployment, for people under 25 is currently at 81 million and counting according to The International Labour Organization (ILO).  The ILO believes the world could be faced with ‘A Lost Generation’.

High-profile business and political leaders as well as representatives from select NGOs will gather in London to discuss measures that governments and business need to take to create jobs; how education systems and business can be better aligned; and what needs to be done to promote entrepreneurial solutions to employment problems.

Beginning this Thursday evening, the Global Youth Employment Agenda will be broadcast live on CNBC’s Closing Bell (8-10pm GMT), hosted by Maria Bartiromo.  Live and taped interviews throughout the evening include:

- Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO, The Blackstone Group
- Peter Löscher, President and CEO, Siemens AG
- Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director, International Labor Organization
- Aditya Mittal, CFO, Arcelor Mittal
- William Reese, President, International Youth Foundation
- George Osbourne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister.

On Friday morning, CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe (6am-9am GMT) hosted by Geoff Cutmore, will broadcast live from the event which will be followed by keynote speeches and three panel sessions.  Expert speakers include:

- Chris Grayling MP, UK Employment Minister
- Benjamin Todd Jealous, President & CEO, NAACP
- Ian Cheshire, Group CEO, Kingfisher Group
- Jan Muehlfeit, Chairman, Microsoft Europe
- David Arkless, President Corporate & Government Affairs, Manpower

The agenda will close at 12.30pm with a speech from Sir David Bell, Former Chairman of The Financial Times & Pearson, Inc.

CNBC will produce a special reports page on the Global Youth Employment Agenda that will feature videos from the meeting, news analysis, guest blogs and more. The page will be available from Thursday morning 2 December on CNBC.com.

As part of CNBC’s on-going commitment to this issue, it will also be hosting a debate on the topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2011.