International Youth Day 2020

Significant engagement of young people to improve sexual and reproductive health and the rights of adolescents

Every day, young people enrich institutions and processes at the local, national and global levels.

This year’s theme of International Youth Day is “Engaging young people for global action. “It emphasizes the importance and value of youth contributions and draws lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional policy can be significantly improved.

The topic of the day raises three questions:

1. What is meaningful youth engagement?

1. What are the advantages and challenges of meaningful youth engagement?

1. How does the WHO seek to apply meaningful youth engagement to its work?

What is meaningful youth engagement?

Significant youth engagement, as defined in Global Consensus Statement for 2018, is an inclusive, deliberate, mutual respect for the partnership of youth and adults. Power is shared, and contributions are valued.

The ideas, perspectives, skills and strengths of young people are integrated into the design and delivery of programs, strategies, policies, funding mechanisms – and organizations that affect their lives and their communities, states and the world.

What are the advantages and challenges of meaningful youth engagement?

Significant youth engagement ensures that young people are equal and valuable partners – not just beneficiaries – in their efforts to improve their health and well-being. This increases the likelihood that policies and programs will be acceptable, appropriate, and responsive to their needs and preferences.

Although global rhetoric increasingly recognizes the value of meaningful youth engagement, it often remains so more aspiration than realityThere is still significant resistance to giving young people a place at the table.

When young people are given the opportunity to contribute, older, urban, educated and well-connected young people are most often chosen. Their engagement is often tokenistic and their responsibilities are small, for example managing energy activities at conferences, taking notes during meetings, or forming references in reports. In addition, youth contributions are rarely effectively measured to demonstrate their value, and their contributions are often not adequately recognized, either by authorship or compensation.

That must not be the case. Significant youth engagement is central to the success of policies and programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of young people, and can provide young people with opportunities to develop the skills they will need as the next generation of leaders.

How does the WHO seek to apply meaningful youth engagement to its work?

The WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and the Human Reproduction Program (HRP) seek to apply the principles of meaningful youth engagement, as defined in the Global Consensus Statement, especially in working on sexual and reproductive health and youth rights (ASRHR),

For example, it makes sense to engage young people in practice with the WHO and UNFPA addition Journal of Adolescent Health, This appendix marks the progress made in the ASRHR in the 25 years since the International Conference on Population and Development and sets priorities for the future.

The process of making the supplement was:

Transparent and informative, Seven young people from Botswana, Fiji, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Pakistan and Turkey were identified using a structured selection process, in collaboration with Partnership for mother, newborn and child (PMNCH). Their selection is based on profiles with specific criteria, the same as for representatives of international organizations, governments, academies, civil society and funding agencies.

The rights-based, The young people actively participated and were equal partners with other collaborators throughout the process. They played a key role in ensuring that the rights of young people were paramount and central to the content of the supplement.

Voluntarily and without coercion, Young people were given formal contracts, which invested co-authorship and compensation for their time and effort. These contracts were developed and approved by the young people themselves.

Safe, The contracts clearly defined their expectations in terms of role and responsibilities, which were fully in line with their capabilities. In addition, throughout the proceedings, they had a contact person for whom they could turn for support.

It respects the view, background and identity of young people, The young people started by sharing their individual ideas and perspectives and then collaborated with each other and with a wider group of co-authors on gathering key themes and messages and developing papers. They then collaborated with the artist to develop an illustrated video of supplementation revival, highlighting what seems to them to be the most important message of supplementation.

The International Federation of Medical Student Associations (IFMSA) and the International Youth Planning Association (IYAFP), two organizations representing young people, contribute to upcoming regional webinars to distribute the supplement and highlight its particular relevance to each WHO Region.