LocationsBy: Malak Qonbia
The human side of skills development: reflections on learning, readiness and World Youth Skills Day
July 16, 2026
I entered the workplace believing I was ready. I had graduated with the highest honours, worked hard, and done everything I thought I was supposed to do. But it didn't take long to realize that accomplishment and readiness are not the same thing.
A degree can open a door. It cannot prepare you for every conversation, every difficult decision or every unexpected challenge that comes after.
What carried me forward was the habits I had built along the way, curiosity, resilience, consistency and the willingness to keep learning. Those qualities became just as valuable in professional life as any technical knowledge I had acquired.
That lesson has stayed with me throughout my journey working at the Knowledge Project’s Future Skills Academy.
When I joined the project a year ago, I came from a background in public health. At first glance, it seemed like an unlikely transition. But the connection quickly became clear. Public health is ultimately about creating the conditions for people to thrive. Skills development follows the same principle. It is about expanding opportunities, removing barriers and giving people the confidence to shape their own futures.
Over the past year, I have watched the Academy grow from reaching around 10,000 learners to more than 71,000 across 22 countries. Growth on that scale is impressive, but the real story lies with the people behind the numbers.
Behind every enrolment was someone finding time to learn after work, between university classes, while caring for family or pursuing other responsibilities. Every completed course represented a decision to invest in a future that was still uncertain but worth preparing for.
Supporting learners also changed the way I think about my own growth. In my role, I learned to analyse data, prepare reports and coordinate programmes. Those were the visible skills, the ones that appeared in job descriptions and deliverables.
The deeper learning happened elsewhere. It happened when a learner needed patience more than an immediate answer. When listening mattered more than speaking. When a challenge required empathy before problem-solving.
Those moments taught me that technical knowledge alone is never enough. As artificial intelligence, digital technologies and new industries reshape the way we live and work, our ability to communicate, adapt, collaborate and think critically becomes even more essential.
Global trends reflect this reality. The World Economic Forum estimates that nearly 40 percent of today's workforce skills will change by 2030, while 6 in 10 workers will need training or reskilling. At the same time, learning in areas such as generative AI is growing rapidly around the world. These figures illustrate the pace of change, but they do not tell the whole story. Real impact begins after someone learns a new skill.
A skill rarely stops with the individual who acquires it. It moves into workplaces, families and communities. It creates opportunities, solves problems and inspires others to learn. Its impact spreads in ways that are often impossible to measure.
I saw this most clearly during the Knowledge Summit 2025, when I finally met learners whose names I had known for months through messages, progress reports and registration forms.
Meeting Louay, Sinda, Khayoon, Haider and many others turned names on a screen into real people. Their journeys were different. Some were using their new skills to contribute to public policy. Others were launching projects, advancing in their careers or strengthening their communities. What connected them was not simply what they had learned, but what they chose to do with that knowledge.
That is the ripple effect of learning. It begins with one person but rarely ends there. That, to me, is what skills development is really about.
This year's World Youth Skills Day theme, “Skills for a Shared Future”, reminds us that skills are no longer only about employability. They are about preparing people to navigate change, contribute to their communities and build more inclusive and resilient societies.
The learners I work with remind me every day that learning is not something we complete. It is something we continue.
As I progressed from intern to United Nations Volunteer with the Knowledge Project, I realized that growth is rarely defined by one milestone or achievement. More often, it is built gradually through small decisions to remain curious, embrace uncertainty and keep moving forward.
If there is one lesson I would share with other young people, it is this: don't wait until you feel completely ready. Readiness often comes after taking the first step.
Be proud of what you have achieved but never let it become the finish line. The future will belong not to those who know everything, but to those who never stop learning.
*Malak Qonbia is a United Nations Volunteer (UNV) working with the UNDP Knowledge Project. With a background in Public Health, she serves as a Skills Development Assistant, supporting the Future Skills Academy and other strategic initiatives that advance skills development across the Arab States and beyond.
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