The WHO Youth Council organized a special online discussion to mark this week's International Youth Day 2025, joined by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and over 300 young people from around the world.
The interactive discussion gave young people the chance to share ideas and questions with Dr Tedros on the importance of youth engagement in health action, advocacy and decision-making.
"It is an honour to join you on International Youth Day," said the Director-Genera. "Today is not just a celebration – it's a conversation centred around this year's theme, Local Youth Action for the SDGs and Beyond. It is a reminder that the global changes sought by the Sustainable Development Goals are rooted in work that is done locally, in our neighbourhoods and in our communities."
Focus was given to the WHO Youth Council Declaration for Creating Healthy Societies and ways its recommendations can be implemented in countries.
WHO established the WHO Youth Council to ensure the voices of young people were at the heart of decisions that impact their lives and health. The Youth Council is a dynamic network of youth representatives of health and non-health organizations and movements. It advises and actively engages the WHO Director-General and WHO senior leadership, and serves as a platform for designing and incubating new initiatives and for expanding existing youth engagement initiatives of WHO.
