Group of activists in protest picket_credit-Jacob Lund

A shared vision

A world where every young person is empowered with tools and information to promote positive mental well-being.

Photo credit: Jacob Lund

Together with UNICEF, we aim to promote mental well-being among young people worldwide.

Positive mental well-being allows young people to build their futures and reach their full potential. It provides them with the capacity to think, feel and learn.

This three-year partnership will equip 400,000 adolescents and 150,000 caregivers in seven countries with information, skills and strategies on how to care for their own and each other's mental well-being. It will also support a global communication campaign that aims to reach 30 million people and promote positive conversations and connections that increase awareness, knowledge and action around mental well-being.

An estimated one in seven adolescents aged between 10 and 19 lives with a diagnosed mental disorder. While adolescence can be a period of heightened risk for developing mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, it is also a critical time of life for establishing healthy behavior patterns and social and emotional learning that can bring life-long benefits. To reduce the rising burden of mental disorders, efforts to promote mental well-being among all young people and their caregivers are critical. However, despite growing awareness about the negative effects and financial costs of mental health conditions on lives and communities, wide investment gaps persist, particularly for mental health promotion and prevention programs.

What's on your mind?

As part of our partnership, we are proud to support UNICEF’s global #OnMyMind advocacy campaign to help encourage conversation about mental health. Together, we will help young people, their friends, families, and communities learn about mental health, start conversations that build connection and call on governments to urgently increase investment in critical services.

Together, we can break the stigma around mental health. It starts with one moment, one conversation, one question: What’s on your mind?

Find tips and assets on Voice of Youth's website: What's on your mind?

Bridging a critical gap in how mental well-being of youth is addressed

The Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health aims to mobilize public and private sector investment and action to promote youth mental well-being.

Looking after mental well-being is fundamental to living a full, productive and healthy life. Wherever in the world, whatever one’s background, everyday stresses can lead to anxiety and challenge our mental well-being. By focusing on prevention and giving the tools and resources to individuals to manage their stress and anxiety, we have a better chance at helping people improve their mental well-being at an early stage. In the years ahead, mental health outcomes need to accelerate to meet the needs we face globally; to support that, UNICEF and the Z Zurich Foundation are launching a new global Coalition to get the world moving on youth mental well-being with a call for a massive scale-up in investment and action on mental health promotion and prevention.

Click here to learn more about

Connecting Generations: An innovative digital resource on mental wellbeing for adolescents and caregivers.

Together with LiveWell, we have launched Connecting Generations: Guiding your adolescent through their formative years, a new digital tool designed to help caregivers better support their own mental wellbeing and that of their adolescents. Based on materials developed and being field tested by UNICEF*, Connecting Generations equips caregivers with essential resources to enhance their understanding of adolescents, support their mental wellbeing, and strengthen connections with the young people they care for.