What Young People Want: Listening to a Generation at a Crossroads

“To improve my well-being, I want… the road to go to school to be fixed. It’s very bad, and we find it very difficult to go,” shared a 14-year-old girl from India, her voice echoing the daily realities of young people like her.  

She is one of the more than 1.5 million young people who responded to the largest-ever global survey on adolescent and youth well-being -- What Young People Want (WYPW), a campaign that did more than collect data of what young people want. It listened. And it made their voices impossible to ignore. 

Today’s world is home to the largest generation of young people in history. With nearly 1.9 billion adolescents and youth aged 10–24, the potential for global progress has never been greater. Yet this potential hangs in the balance. Many young people remain left behind, undervalued, unheard, and underserved. Investments in their well-being remain inadequate, and without urgent and targeted prioritisation and action. The world risks losing the energy, creativity, and determination of a generation just as it needs it most. 

The challenges facing young people today are daunting. The statistics speak volumes. In 2021 alone, over 1.5 million adolescents and young adults aged 10–24 died, an average of 4,500 lives lost every day, according to the World Health Organization. Mental health challenges are surging, with one in seven adolescents globally experiencing a mental disorder, accounting for 15% of the global burden of disease in this age group. In education, over 259 million school-aged children and adolescents—132 million boys and 127 million girls -- remain out of school. In low- and middle-income countries, seven in ten 10-year-olds cannot read a simple sentence, exposing the growing depth of learning poverty. 

Rising inequality, global conflicts, climate change, persistent gender-based violence and the growing anti-rights movement are eroding the progress made towards advancing adolescent well-being as well as the foundations of hope for millions of young people, particularly the most vulnerable. Mental health, safety, opportunity, and dignity are not luxuries -- they are basic human rights that remain out of reach for too many. 

In response to these deepening crises, PMNCH—the world’s largest alliance for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being—launched an ambitious global effort to listen to young people. As part of the What Young People Want Initiative, PMNCH launched a survey that was designed to reach at least a million voices. It far exceeded expectations, engaging 1,510,004 respondents aged 10–24 globally, making it the largest survey of its kind ever conducted. 

“Meaningful adolescent and youth engagement has long been a key pillar of PMNCH’s work. We recognize that policies and plans for adolescents cannot be shaped without listening to the young people in the world today. Tapping into the results of this survey, they have already informed critical PMNCH documents such as our “Agenda for Action for Adolescents”, which lays out seven priorities for urgent action and meaningful engagement with adolescents and youth at a time of increased vulnerability.” – Rajat Khosla  

Education and skills development emerged as the top priority, cited by nearly 40% of respondents. Safety followed at 28%, and health and nutrition were identified as critical by 21%. But the responses also pointed to a deeper truth: young people don’t experience well-being in silos.  

Among the respondents, 49.7% were aged 15–19, while 40.7% were between 20–24, and just under 10% were 10–14 years old, a distribution shaped in part by parental consent requirements. Responses also reflected a diverse gender spectrum, with a roughly equal share of young women and men, and 3.3% identifying as another gender. This diversity highlights the need for gender-responsive policies, particularly in areas like sexual and reproductive health, menstrual hygiene, clean drinking water, and road safety, which affect different groups in different ways. 

A 23-year-old non-binary youth from Brazil captured this interconnectedness best:  “To improve my well-being, I want… everything at once -- security, good food, quality education, infrastructure, better roads, better transport, and free public healthcare.”  Their words mirror the views of thousands of others who demanded holistic solutions, not fragmented fixes. 

In Ghana and Zambia, menstrual hygiene and access to sanitary products surfaced as top issues. In rural parts of India, girls highlighted unsafe school commutes. Young people across regions also repeatedly raised concerns about safety and inclusion. These perspectives reveal how young people experience the world -- and why a multi-sectoral, whole-of-society approach to adolescent health and well-being is essential. These findings underscore the need for tailored multi-faceted approaches to adolescent well-being. These diverse perspectives show that no single solution will suffice, adolescent well-being demands a tailored, multi-faceted approach that considers the unique challenges faced by different groups.  

The survey, which was executed with the Conceptual Framework for Adolescent Well-being as its foundation, reaffirmed the framework’s importance as a critical tool for adolescent health and well-being policy and programming. The framework, which emphasizes five interconnected domains—learning and employability, safety and supportive environments, health and nutrition, connectedness and contribution, and agency and resilience—resonates strongly with the priorities expressed by youth themselves. With more than 623,000 responses related to education and skills, and over 485,000 calling for safety and support, the framework is not only validated but also given new urgency by the voices behind these numbers.  

“This report complements similar initiatives stemming from the Global Forum for Adolescents, including ‘Adolescents in a changing world: the case for urgent investment’, and the ‘Guidance for countries to assess adolescent health and well-being’. The emphasis on education, skills, and employment, especially among youth from low-income countries, shows us clearly what the priorities are, reinforcing the need to act boldly and urgently. Together, this series of publications forms a critical basis to address adolescents’ unique challenges and ensure a thriving global adolescent population.” – Rajat Khosla, Executive Director, PMNCH 

The What Young People initiative, survey and report is not just a list of demands of what young people want for their well-being. It is a call for urgent transformation, action, investment and accountability. It is a reminder that young people are not simply asking to be included -- they are claiming their rightful place as leaders, as decision-makers, and as equal partners in shaping their future. 

This report is a foundation upon which governments, institutions, and communities can build better policies, stronger programs, and more responsive systems. Priorities must be shaped and developed in collaboration with young people to ensure their unique needs are met, especially at a time when resources are scarce. Official development assistance has decreased since the time in which the survey was conducted, meaning that the needs of young people have been exacerbated since then.  

In an era of deep uncertainty, the voices of young people offer clarity. They want to be safe. They want to be educated. They want to be healthy. They want to be seen. Most of all, they want to be heard, not just as beneficiaries, but as equal partners in shaping their future. By anchoring future planning in the lived experiences of young people, we can chart a course toward a world that values, respects, and empowers every adolescent to thrive. 

“I hope the survey continues to be used by a broad range of policymakers and programmers worldwide, serving as a call for collaboration to align with the priorities of adolescents and young people in a cost-efficient and multi-sectoral fashion.” – Rajat Khosla, Executive Director, PMNCH