Empowering the future: WHO/Europe advances the vital role of youth in health decision-making

"We're tired of tokenism. Young people are ready to have a say on critical issues concerning their health and well-being. We don't need guidance, we need support in becoming a meaningful voice to be reckoned with in political debate," says Uluk Batyrgaliev, 25, from Kyrgyzstan.

To him, young people's perspectives and potential are still underestimated because of their age and perceived lack of experience. As a result, critical health and well-being policies, programmes and services targeted at young people may not reflect their realities, needs, expectations and suggested solutions.

To support young activists like Uluk in feeling genuinely seen and heard, WHO/Europe launched its Youth4Health initiative in 2021. Established by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, the initiative has provided a platform for youth to influence and participate in WHO/Europe's work and health decision-making processes. From dialogue with policy-makers to advocacy campaigns and expert groups - read further to learn more about the "why" and the "how".

Why engaging young people is essential to WHO/Europe

The world currently has the largest generation of young people in history. In the WHO European Region, encompassing 53 Member States and with almost 1 billion people, every third person is under 30. Young people are disproportionately affected by an increasingly complex modern health landscape - from the disruption of core health services because of ongoing conflicts to the persisting mental health crisis exacerbated by diverse factors.

Co-designing potential solutions to such challenges together with youth is, therefore, imperative for the success of health policies and programmes.

Hilaire Armstrong, a technical officer at WHO/Europe supporting the Youth4Health initiative, engages regularly with youth activists and youth organizations in the Region. She reflects that: "Young people understand best the resources and needs of their peers and communities. Inserting their voices and perspectives where they were non-existent before or where the space for that was limited is a crucial asset for WHO to strengthen its work."

Equal opportunities to actively participate in health and well-being decision-making are vital to build trust at all levels of society and empower a new generation of health leaders. "We're invaluable partners in shaping health policies. We bring fresh ideas and tech-savvy solutions to the table, and our energy and creativity can help tackle health challenges in ways that benefit everyone," says Uzay Macar, 26, from Turkey.

Youth4Health: more than just a platform

WHO/Europe's commitment to engaging youth as equal partners in health decision-making was formalized in 2022 at the first Youth Forum in Tirana, Albania. There, youth activists and organizations from across the Region adopted the Tirana Statement with 10 commitments for increasing meaningful engagement and improving youth health and well-being. One of these focuses on creating a platform for ongoing collaboration between young people and WHO/Europe.

This led to the launch of the Youth4Health network in 2023 at the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe. The network now includes 34 youth organizations and 175 individual representatives from 36 countries across the Region.

It goes beyond mere consultation: through this mechanism, network members learn more about WHO's work in the Region, build connections, and participate in information and advocacy campaigns and the development of publications. They also have opportunities to join WHO collaboration groups, such as technical advisory groups.

In turn, WHO/Europe integrates youth perspectives into its planning and amplifies their messages in high-level health decision-making processes and WHO/Europe hosted events.

Real voices, real achievements

"It is vital for us as young activists to have WHO support. When national governments see WHO endorse the Youth4Health network and youth-led initiatives and events, they listen to us and discover that we have much to offer," says Austėja Sakalauskaitė, medical student from Lithuania.

Through its Youth4Health initiative, WHO/Europe works with young people to advance issues that matter most to them. Some key achievements include:

• A tool for engaging young people in emergency preparedness, response and recovery, launched in August 2023 and co-designed with Youth4Health network members.
• The youth declaration at the 7th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest, Hungary, in July 2023. The declaration calls for stronger, more holistic and accelerated climate action at all levels, and meaningful youth engagement in environment and health processes. The European Environment and Health Process Partnership on Youth, a new mechanism that emerged from the Conference, will coordinate its implementation.
• The Youth Alcohol Network - another platform uniting young people with WHO and policy-makers to address the adverse effects of alcohol on individuals, communities and society as a whole. It is part of a broader WHO-European Union Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION). At a recent event, youth developed ideas on how digital advertising should be adapted to help young people make better-informed decisions.
• Elevating youth action on immunization - in December 2023, young professionals co-created and co-led the "Force of the Future" event to address barriers to vaccination against preventable diseases in the European Region. Together with WHO/Europe's immunization team, they refined their ideas to organize activities as part of European Immunization Week 2024.
  

"These networks, including Youth4Health, have a very big impact because all of a sudden you have a community in this space where you can actually contribute to something, even if it's as little as filling in a form. This also bridges the gap between people with lived experience and those that would like to get involved in this field but have no idea where to start," says Inês Mália Sarmento, a mental health activist from Portugal.

Coming up next

WHO/Europe continues to expand youth engagement and encourage Member States to bring youth delegates as part of their official delegation to sessions of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, WHO's key decision-making body in the Region.

To benefit from upcoming opportunities to engage with WHO/Europe, individual youth activists and youth organizations residing in the European Region can apply to join the Youth4Health network, with applications reviewed on a rolling basis.

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