Latin America and the Caribbean’s (LAC) GDP will shrink by between 0.9% and 1% in 2016, according to the latest estimates, the second consecutive year of negative growth and a rate of contraction the region has not seen since the early 1980s.

According to the Latin American Economic Outlook 2017, the region should recover in 2017, but with modest GDP growth of between 1.5% and 2%, below expected growth in advanced economies.

The Outlook, jointly produced by the Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) and the Development Bank for Latin America (CAF), warns that this prolonged economic deceleration could jeopardize the continent’s socio-economic progress.

Nearly 30 million young individuals in the LAC region are neither working nor engaged in education or training (NEET), which is 21% of the people in this age group compared with 15% in OECD countries. Another 19% of youths are in informal jobs. Women are particularly disadvantaged, making up 76% of NEETS and occupying mainly unpaid jobs. At least 6 out of 10 youths living in poor households are NEETs or working in the informal sector, and 4 out of 10 youths living in vulnerable middle-class households are NEETs or in informal jobs. This compares to only 2 out of 10 from middle-class households.

The three organizations call for investing in youth through better education, improved skills and entrepreneurship opportunities to ignite economic growth and build a solid basis for long-term progress.