2024-10-13-世界卫生组织-Youth_Declaration_on_Creating_Healthy_Societies_7页_2mb

WHO Youth Council: Youth Declaration on Creating Healthy Societies

Core Content

The WHO Youth Council has released a Youth Declaration titled "Creating Healthy Societies: Building Well-being, Resilience, and Trust", adopted during the International Youth Conference on Creating Healthy Societies in October 2024. The declaration outlines a vision for a healthier, equitable, and sustainable global society, emphasizing the role of youth engagement and leadership in shaping health policies and addressing systemic inequalities.

The declaration is structured around three priority areas:

1. Promoting Health Education and Literacy
2. Ensuring Accessible and Sustainable Healthcare
3. Transforming and Elevating Youth Leadership

Main Points and Calls to Action

1. Promoting Health Education and Literacy

• Health education should be integrated into all aspects of a young person's life, from early childhood through the life course.
• Digital and civic literacy are essential to equip young people with the skills needed to become informed and active citizens.
• Education must be inclusive, accessible, and adaptive to reflect the diverse healthcare needs of individuals and communities.
• The declaration calls for:
  • Access, Equity, and Inclusion in education and technology to reduce the digital divide.
  • Comprehensive curricula that include health, climate change, and digital literacy.
  • Quality and adaptive education that supports experiential and self-directed learning.
  • Youth engagement and leadership in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs.

2. Ensuring Accessible and Sustainable Healthcare

• Barriers to healthcare, such as socioeconomic inequality, geographic disparities, discrimination, and political instability, negatively impact the well-being and development of young people.
• Access to good nutrition and healthcare is crucial for educational opportunities and social mobility.
• The declaration calls for:
  • Inclusive, accessible, and prevention-focused healthcare to ensure equal access for marginalised and historically vulnerable groups.
  • Investment in young people to empower them as leaders and to enable youth-led solutions in health, climate change, and education.
  • Brave spaces for young people to express themselves, seek help, and exercise their human rights in both physical and online environments.

3. Transforming and Elevating Youth Leadership

• Young people represent one-third of the global population but are underrepresented in decision-making processes that affect them.
• Their diverse experiences and innovative potential must be valued and integrated into policy development and implementation.
• The declaration calls for:
  • Inclusion of young people in co-creating policies on health and well-being, with recognition of their limited resources and constraints.
  • Valuing youth experiences in policy, implementation, evaluation, and social accountability.
  • Greater support for youth organisations, including financial support, recognition of non-formal education, and access to decision-makers at all levels.

Key Information

• The declaration was co-organized by Bertelsmann Stiftung and the World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the World Health Summit.
• It was published on October 14, 2024, in Berlin.
• The WHO Youth Council is composed of 23 youth organisations that work globally and regionally to promote public health.
• The declaration calls on Member States, International Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, and private actors to support youth as leaders and change-makers.
• It emphasizes the importance of collaboration among all stakeholders to address the challenges of the 21st century and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Conclusion

This declaration represents a collective call to action for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development. It highlights the need for youth-centred policies, investment in education and healthcare, and the creation of safe and empowering environments. By prioritizing these themes, the WHO Youth Council envisions a future where young people are active participants in shaping a healthier, more resilient, and more just global society.