The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General’s Youth Council, launched today, will provide advice on key health and development issues affecting young people through a comprehensive and inclusive WHO Youth Engagement Strategy.
WHO is keenly aware how vital it is to listen to young people and learn from them. This has become clearer than ever before during the global COVID-19 pandemic that is having such an impact on young people’s lives.
“Young people are less at risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19 but will be the most affected by the long-term consequences of the pandemic, which will shape the world they live and work in for decades to come," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The WHO Youth Council has been set up to hear the voices and experiences of young people, and to harness and expand their energy and ideas to promote and protect health for all.”
The Youth Council brings together young people from health and non-health backgrounds from all over the world to provide advice to the Director-General on global health, and other health and development issues.
It’s a place where the Director-General and WHO Leadership can engage directly with young people.
The Youth Council will serve as a platform for designing and incubating new initiatives and for maintaining and expanding existing meaningful youth engagement initiatives of WHO.
The Council members belong to youth advocacy movements from around the globe. Members are expected to meet several times a year to discuss issues that matter to their peers and community.
As WHO would like this Council to be youth-led, an inclusive and diverse initial group will define the modalities. The design of the WHO Youth Council is underway in collaboration with youth representatives from diverse organizations, including student health organizations, young health professionals organizations, other health-focused youth NGOs, non-health youth NGOs as well as major groups on children and youth.
When this core group meets in the coming week, they will define the criteria and selection of final membership taking into account diversity and inclusion and propose terms of reference.