Adolescent well-being

There are an estimated 1.8 billion adolescents and youth (aged 10-24 years) in the world today whose needs are not being met, mostly based in low- and middle-income countries. The period of adolescence provides a key window of opportunity to influence individual developmental trajectories. In 2020, PMNCH, in partnership with UN H6+ Technical Working Group alongside youth-led and youth-serving organizations developed the Definition and Conceptual Framework for Adolescent Well-being, which proposes a  definition of adolescent well-being, underpinned by five interconnected domains. Building on this Framework, PMNCH and partners developed a series of 15 technical papers on Programming to Promote Adolescent well-being and the Adolescent Wellbeing BMJ Collection.

Through the Adolescent and Youth Constituency, PMNCH serves as the global platform for meaningful adolescent and youth engagement, mobilizing advocates to increase political commitment and financing for multisectoral, rights-based action for, by, and with adolescents. In line with the key asks of the Call to Action for Adolescents, PMNCH is organizing a Global Forum for Adolescents in October 2023, a key milestone of the multi-year advocacy campaign coordinated by PMNCH: 1.8 Billion Young People for Change and the world’s largest-ever gathering for adolescent well-being. As part of the campaign, PMNCH will lead the What Young People Want initiative, an unprecedented digital crowdsourcing effort to engage young people in expressing what they want most for their well-being and shape national agendas. The Global Forum will offer a highly visible stage for policymakers to present commitments to adolescent well-being. Countries will be supported in their efforts in doing so by all PMNCH structures and constituencies, guided by PMNCH’s strategic, multi-pronged approach to commitment mobilization and implementation.

Fact sheets

Databases

Partner resources