Recommendations from our Young Leaders for Strengthening Youth Advocates

  1. Emphasize Youth-Led Implementation, Not Just Participation:
    Policy success is driven by those implementing it at various levels - from governments down to service users. This insight can guide youth involvement efforts: young people should not only advocate but also lead and shape implementation processes, ensuring their perspectives directly influence how policies unfold in practice.

  2. Co-Creation of Policy and Implementation Tools:
    A key determinant of successful policy adoption is involving stakeholders early, during policy formulation. For youth engagement, youth have to be brought into the drafting of position statements and implementation guidance, making them co-creators rather than just consultees.

  3. Leveraging Existing Systems Creatively:
    Even with limited funding or flawed policy, creative and pragmatic approaches can yield results. Youth should be encouraged and supported to identify opportunities within current systems - for example, integrating mental health advocacy into existing education or community structures.

  4. Tailoring Approaches to Local Contexts:
    There is a need to adapt policy implementation to local environments (for example, differences in governance structures between countries like Canada, Ukraine and Brazil). It is important to emphasize context-specific advocacy strategies and recognize that pathways for youth engagement will vary.

  5. Financial and Sustainability Factors:
    The lack of sustainable funding can be a major barrier, as there is a need to move beyond pilot projects. Youth advocacy can focus on demanding long-term financial commitment and showing the impact of current work to strengthen funding cases.

  6. Systems Thinking and Intersectoral Collaboration:
    Mental health policies intersect with education, justice, and other sectors. The importance of youth groups building networks across sectors to enhance the impact of advocacy and implementation should not be underestimated.

  7. Training Youth in Policy Literacy:
    There remains a gap in understanding policy processes. Creating or promoting training initiatives that build young people’s knowledge of how policies are formulated, adopted, and implemented will empower them to engage more effectively.

➪ Access the new Youth Engagement Brief developed by young professionals: “How Organisations Can Meaningfully Engage Young People in Mental Health Policy and Practice”