Helen Clark: Address to Learning Planet Festival, Youth Well-being and Mental Health

There are 1.8 billion adolescents and youth in our world today. It matters to all of us that this large generation is able to thrive. For that to happen, the needs of adolescents and youth have to be prioritised, and their leadership, voices, and experiences must be acknowledged and included.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, adolescents and young adults faced multiple and interlinked challenges to their well-being. Those challenges include social injustice and inequalities (such as those related to gender, gender identity, and inclusion), insufficient social protection, inadequate mental health, poor sexual and reproductive health, and an inability to exercise their rights - which can result in, among other things, unintended pregnancies and in contracting HIV. Among a number of adolescents and youth, there is also a crisis of connection to family, community, and society, with increasing numbers living on the streets and/or dropping out of school.

Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder, accounting for thirteen per cent of the global burden of disease in this age group. Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-19-year-olds. Source: WHO

• As of 2018, 258 million children and youth were out of school. That number has increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in countries with already low learning outcomes and high drop-out rates. Source: AHWB Technical Paper on Domain 4: Education
• Globally, one-fifth of young people (aged 15-24) are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). Source: AHWB Technical Paper on Domain 4: Education

Young people are also facing the threat of climate change. Children and young people who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions will bear the biggest consequences, together with future generations. The WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission findings show that there is no single country which provides the conditions to support children to live healthy lives today or provide an environment fit for their future.

There is new evidence on this in the PMNCH BMJ Collection on Adolescent Well-being, which builds on the definition and conceptual framework for adolescent well-being developed by PMNCH and the United Nations H6+ Technical Working Group on Adolescent Well-being. It tells us that climate change threatens all five domains of adolescent well-being – good health and optimum nutrition; connectedness, positive values, and contributions to society; safety and supportive environments; learning, education, and employability; and agency and resilience.

Adolescents experience significant increases in rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression following a climate related disaster. These outcomes are major risk factors for suicide, the fourth leading cause of death in older adolescents aged 15-19.

In a recent global survey of 10,000 young people aged 16-25 across 10 countries, almost sixty per cent of young people were extremely worried about climate change. Over 75 per cent stated that because of climate change they found the future frightening.

Yet, despite all the data, young people’s needs are still not well integrated in climate policies.  

• Only 34 per cent of 103 countries with new or revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), have made them youth sensitive.  
• Fewer than nineteen per cent of the NDCs consider children and young people as rights-holders. That means that only one in five of them includes references to child rights or intergenerational justice and equity in a meaningful way- for example, as part of its vision, a crosscutting approach, element, or pillar on which the NDC is built.  
• Only 27 per cent of disaster risk reduction commitments are youth sensitive. Source: UNICEF, 2021

In addition, between 2003 and 2015, development assistance for adolescent health accounted for only 1.6 per cent of total development assistance for health, despite a third of the total global burden of disease being estimated to have roots in adolescence.  

We need more policies which focus on improving adolescent and youth well-being, funding, and programmes which are youth-targeted and gender-sensitive. 

This is why PMNCH, the world’s largest alliance for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, launched the “1.8 Billion Young People for Change” in October 2022. It is a global, youth-led campaign to mobilise more and better action for adolescent well-being, including in relation to young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights - in the context of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the many conflicts around the world. This campaign culminates in the Global Forum for Adolescents in October 2023.  

The voices of young people themselves will be at the centre of the campaign. Young people will be speaking for their own health and well-being, their empowerment and resilience, their education and skills, and their connection with people and the planet.

An Agenda for Action – will be developed by PMNCH based on real-time input from hundreds of thousands of young people through the "What Young People Want” chatbot system. The chatbot will be live on the 1point8.org website. Our message to adolescents and youth is to join the campaign by sharing your voice using the chatbot.  The Agenda for Action will guide political advocacy efforts, targeting windows of political opportunity like the UN Sustainable Development Goals Summit in September 2023 and the G20 Summit in September 2023. 

Bottom-up data collection through the chatbot allows young people to share their priorities, while also turning the data into a powerful, contextualized advocacy tool, strengthening young people and adolescents in their own advocacy for resources, accountability and attention for the challenges they face in their countries - including access to quality education and learning opportunities. Young people know what they need, and as partners we need to support their vision.

To repeat - there are 1.8 billion young people in the world today. I would like to invite you all to join this important and timely campaign to hold governments accountable, and to increase policies, financing, and services for adolescent and youth well-being to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for this generation and for generations to come. The Learning Planet Festival is a unique opportunity, and I echo its message to learn to take care of oneself, others, and the planet. Youth voices matter, let us ensure that they are heard.