Doha: The United Nations has launched a new global initiative focused on youth mental health on the margins of the second World Summit for Social Development held in Doha. The initiative intends to bolster the cognitive and psychological well-being of the next generation, enabling them to confront the mounting challenges in a world characterised by uncertainty and rapid evolution.
According to Qatar News Agency, the event featured the screening of a short film showcasing nightmarish accounts of young people from various territories around the globe, who narrated their ordeals of apprehension, fear, isolation, and pressures regarding social and familial expectations. As a consequence, they called for breaking the silence surrounding mental health and making it a priority in development and societal plans.
The participants underlined that mental health is not a welfare, but rather a fundamental imperative to build secure and tight-knit communities. They stressed the importance of engaging young people in laying out solutions and making decisions, in addition to providing a supportive environment that helps them express themselves and navigate crises.
The initiative broadly seeks to boost collaboration among governments, educational institutions, and civil society organizations to expand the scope of psychological services, train specialized talent, and incorporate notions of mental health into educational curricula and public policies, they highlighted.
The launch of this initiative from Doha embodies the UN belief in the fact that talking about mental health and well-being is, in essence, a discussion about social development, and represents an outgrowth of ongoing efforts to empower youth globally, along with the communities that the UN is working to build through tenets of care, communication, and sympathy, said Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, Felipe Paullier.
Felipe Paullier affirmed that it is a great honor to launch this initiative from Doha as a kickstart for a monumental work that is hopefully aimed at contributing to building communities that incorporate care into their social fabric and restore hope to young people around the world. He added that youth worldwide are calling not only for the enhancement of youth mental health and well-being services, but also for a systemic transformation of the very structures themselves to become more inclusive and humane, rooted in belonging and hope.
The mere absence of illness does not necessarily signify that young people are thriving; mental health transcends treatment to encompass dignity, purpose, and a sense of belonging, Paullier emphasized. He elucidated that the new initiative pursues a systemic and ecological approach, focusing on empowering youth and engaging them in co-creating solutions through educational and social systems that support inclusion, creativity, and care across schools, workplaces, and digital spaces.
Paullier further pointed out that WHO data indicate that one in seven adolescents suffers from a mental health condition, with suicide remaining one of the leading causes of death among young people. These figures, he said, underscore the urgent need for collective action addressing the root causes of the issue.
The initiative is distilled into a trifecta of principles: firstly, mental health is a human right, not a privilege, secondly, there is no future without well-being, as mental health forms the foundation for peace and sustainable development, and thirdly, care, communication, and community are the true pillars for building a more cohesive future, he underlined. These pillars are a direct corollary of prioritizing mental health as a fundamental human right.
Paullier noted that the program represents an application of the One UN Approach, led by the United Nations Office of Youth, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNESCO, the United Nations Population Fund, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling on governments and civil society organizations to join this collective effort.
Speaking on her part, Tanatswa Shikaura, a young SDG leader and mental health advocate, and founder of the Ndinewe Foundation, emphasized that launching this initiative marks a fundamental shift from talking about mental health to acting for it. Folks frequently say that young people are not only leaders of tomorrow but leaders of today, and this certainly applies to youth mental health and well-being. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is impossible without prioritizing mental health and well-being, stressed Shikaura.
She added that the time has come to reframe mental health as a fundamental human right, stressing the necessity for young people to move beyond mere survival toward thriving in environments that ensure safety, belonging, and social connection. Shikaura further called for substantial investment in youth mental health and well-being, providing the essential resources for young people to flourish.
She stressed that mental health is a shared responsibility, requiring the engagement of society as a whole, through youth engagement in designing and enforcing policies and programs directed at them, asserting that the new initiative sends a clear message to the world that the time has come to translate words into action, to cooperate, and to invest in the future that youth need and deserve.
The event concluded with a call for the international community to invest in youth mental health programs, recognizing them as a bedrock for achieving comprehensive and sustainable social development.