When early COVID-19 research showed that young people seemed to be at low risk for experiencing severe illness, some youth became apathetic while others felt called to help. Some joined the Global Shapers community, a network of more than 9 000 highly educated and socially driven youth from across the globe. This community of youth influencers, born out of the World Economic Forum, are working with WHO/Europe to ensure that tailored COVID-19 health advice reaches communities, families, and individuals in countries across the WHO European Region. Regular WHO-hosted webinars provide the Global Shapers network with accurate information and enable WHO to listen to the real concerns of youth in the Region. WHO’s access to the Global Shaper’s Facebook page, allows it to monitor and analyze information posted by members (i.e. pictures, questions, and rumors) to better tailor its risk communication. Global Shapers also post WHO-sourced information on their social media channels to help snuff out misinformation.
Lahiru Elvitigala
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