The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to collaborate with representatives of health and non-health youth organizations on key health and development issues affecting young people to co-create a comprehensive and inclusive WHO Youth Engagement Strategy.  

WHO is setting up the Youth Council as a dynamic network for stakeholders to amplify the voices and experiences of young people, and to harness and expand their expertise, energy and ideas to promote public health.  Your organization’s ideas, experiences and expertise will support WHO in its efforts to strengthen youth contributions to public health systems which will enable our Member States to meaningfully engage young people as key drivers in policy-making processes.

The WHO Youth Council will be governed by the following principles:

●     to be inclusive and diverse in membership and structure, ensuring gender balance and adequate representation from different stakeholder groups, geographical regions and income levels;

●     to be transparent in all processes, including the operational strategy and activities;

●     to ensure all activities align with WHO’s norms and standards; and

●     to facilitate coordination among interested parties to advance WHO’s priorities on the contribution of youth to the public health agenda.

For this opportunity, WHO is looking for:

●     Global and regional youth organizations representing the following categories: 

• intergovernmental organizations
• nongovernmental organizations (including patient organisations)
• academic institutions
• philanthropic foundations
• youth parliamentarians.

●     The entity should contribute significantly to the advancement of public health and to the objectives, vision and goal of the WHO Youth Council and demonstrate documented support for WHO’s work and activities on youth.

●     The entity should be active, internationally and regionally, working in the field of youth and public health with proven experience and expertise in the subject matter for at least 3 years.

Your contributions

As your time is valuable, we have provided options for your organization to contribute anywhere from 1–3 hours per week through virtual small focus/working groups and/or larger workshops, facilitated in a highly supportive environment.

Each activity and engagement is unique, does not require previous engagement or participation, and will build upon the discussions and key themes discussed. We will provide several time zone options to support attendance from across the six WHO regions. Discussions will be mostly in small groups to allow time for us to hear from your organizations.

If you have accessibility needs, we will aim to find the easiest way for you to take part.

Provisional dates of annual and working group meetings will be given at a later date.

How to get involved

If your organization would like to be involved, please fill out the form and send us your expression of interest.

Please note that the expression of interest should indicate your commitment in meaningful youth engagement as well as indicating specific areas of interest unique to your organization.

Deadline for submissions: Thursday, 2 December 2021 at 18:00 CET

Expressions of interest will be reviewed by WHO Youth Council Secretariat and by the WHO Youth Council Steering Committee. If you have any questions, please contact WHO Youth Council Secretariat at youthcouncil@who.int

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Youth Council