Adolescent empowerment and engagement for Health and well-being: Strengthening capacities, opportunities and rights - PMNCH Knowledge Summary #37

Overview

It is widely recognized that meaningful engagement of adolescents helps to improve health policies and services for adolescents, which in turn improve health and broader societal outcomes. The right of adolescents to take part in and influence processes and decisions that affect their lives was enshrined in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and related General Comments on the right to be heard and on the rights of adolescents. Despite binding international obligations, there is global institutional underinvestment in the development of robust adolescent engagement strategies. 

This Knowledge Summary delves into the what and why of meaningful adolescent engagement and how adolescents can be empowered by increasing their capacities, skills, autonomy and decision-making power, and by advancing their rights.