Global agenda for sustainable development cannot be achieved without increased focus on adolescents, a lobby group has said.
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health said the focus should shift to the young demographic group.
This comes up in the lead-up to the Global Forum for Adolescents in 2023.
The BMJ launched, together with PMNCH the first tranche of a special collection of articles focusing on the adolescents.
"The needs of young people have long fallen between cracks in service provision and not been a political priority," PMNCH and former New Zealand PM Helen Clark said.
In a global campaign to advocate for the world’s 1.8 billion adolescents and youth on Thursday, the lobby says it will further drive action towards the Global Forum for Adolescents in 2023.
They explain that global public health investment per capita for adolescents is lower than in any other demographic.
This group comprises 23% of the population of low-income countries, and numbers nearly doubled from 1980 to 2020.
The group, which includes India’s health secretary, argue that investing in the wellbeing of adolescents, which encompasses, but goes beyond health, will deliver economic returns well beyond the level invested.
They also advocate for centering the voices of youth themselves in agenda-setting and design, implementation, and evaluation of services intended for them.
An open letter, signed by youth representatives and political leaders, further endorses the goals of the Global Forum for Adolescents, arguing that achieving meaningful involvement will require work to be done on strengthening spaces for engagement.
These insights are detailed in five analysis articles, each corresponding to one of five domains of wellbeing outlined in a previously developed framework.
Analyses of each of these domains, spanning health and nutrition; connectedness; safety and a supportive environment; learning, skills and employability; and agency and resilience, elaborate on the ways in which multisectoral action can deliver benefits for adolescent wellbeing, and the challenges in this.
