Reflections from participants from the youth multi-stakeholder hearing.
Young people are key drivers of change in the mental health movement and their leadership was on full display at the recent youth multi-stakeholder hearing organised by the World Health Organization. Held as part of the lead up to the 2025 UN High Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health, the event brought together advocates from across the globe to share their experiences.
At GMHAN we are proud to see young people from our network participating in this critical dialogue and below we share some of their reflections. They speak about their work, their takeaways from the event and what they hope to see on the road to the 2025 HLM.
Dr Rufaro Hamish Mushonga - African Mental Health Research Initiative
Q: Can you tell us about your work in your community or your experience and how it shapes your perspective on the issues discussed at the meeting?
As a researcher on the African Youth in Mind project, I support the adaptation of stepped care interventions for youth depression in low-resource settings. Through the African Mental Health Research Initiative, I’ve explored structural and cultural barriers to help-seeking among young people with common mental disorders. These experiences have shown me that mental health systems must be community-driven, youth-informed, and deeply rooted in context. I also served as the Mental Health Specialist at the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy, where I advocated for mental health to be prioritised in continental youth development agendas.
Q: From your experience, why do you think it’s important for young people to participate in global discussions on mental health ahead of the HLM?
Young people bring grounded, community-based perspectives that are too often missing in global mental health discourse. Their lived realities offer fresh insights into what works-and what doesn’t-in practice. Including young people meaningfully in discussions ahead of the HLM is essential to designing policies that are equitable, inclusive, and capable of transforming systems from the ground up.
Q: What actions or commitments do you hope will come out of this meeting to ensure that youth voices are not just heard but lead to meaningful advancements in mental health policies?
I hope to see formal mechanisms for youth co-leadership in mental health policy design, implementation, and accountability-particularly at global levels. We need sustainable funding for youth-led solutions, and commitment from multilateral agencies to shift from consultative engagement to power-sharing with young people.
Q: Key takeaways from the youth multistakeholder hearing
My key takeaway from the Youth MSH was the strong emphasis on sustainable financing for NCDs and mental health, alongside the need to close the gap between global commitments and local implementation. The discussions also highlighted the importance of integrating youth-led accountability mechanisms and ensuring mental health is prioritised within universal health coverage frameworks.
Dion Ras - Executive Committee Member, International Association for Youth Mental Health
Q: Can you tell us about your work in your community or your experience and how it shapes your perspective on the issues discussed at the meeting?
My work in the youth participation space has mainly focused on three spaces: community mental health, research and civil society organisations. I founded the national youth council at @ease (a peer-support organisation in the Netherlands)—a body that gives young people a voice, and the ability to influence @ease's management and activities. I also am a young member of the executive committee of the International Association for Youth Mental Health, and I co-created a youth participation framework for the WHO Pan-European Mental Health Coalition. Based on all of these experiences, I not only believe, but I have seen the immense value of young people's involvement and co-leadership of all manners of initiatives focused on improving care for mental health and our understanding of it.
Q: From your experience, why do you think it’s important for young people to participate in global discussions on mental health ahead of the HLM?
Two reasons stand out: young people, beyond being the next working generation(s), have intimate knowledge of what it means to grow up in a society that has changed rapidly—and still is changing rapidly—both technologically and geopolitically. As a result, young people have valuable knowledge on the effects of such change and how we might be able to counteract its potential negative effects. A second reason is that young people understand what it's like to be young—they understand the kinds of issues young people face. Any interventions, research, or policy that is developed with the intention to support youth mental health, would greatly benefit from involving the people it aims to support.
Q: What actions or commitments do you hope will come out of this meeting to ensure that youth voices are not just heard but lead to meaningful advancements in mental health policies?
Youth participation processes out there are still rife with tokenization and often allocate young people to positions of little influence, and I have experienced this myself. I hope the culture and sentiment around youth participation changes such that we can see the value of practices like co-leadership or creating specific roles for young people.
Q: Key takeaways from the youth multistakeholder hearing
The WHO Youth MSH was groundbreaking in many ways—(1) it is one of currently few times that youth engagement in reshaping mental healthcare systems was the focus of a MSH, (2) it involved stakeholders from many sectors and backgrounds, including those with lived experience, and (3) the spotlight was on topics that often do not get nearly enough attention. One example I was particularly passionate about was the integration of community healthcare initiatives into the wider healthcare system (like general practice or outpatient clinics)!
