Youth Manifesto on mental health
On behalf of the young volunteers of the Red Cross and Red Crescent we are proud to present this Youth Manifesto on mental health demanding visibility, acknowledgement, and action within the RCRC-Movement.
Mental health is one of the most neglected areas of health globally with millions of young people affected. As the world’s largest humanitarian organization, it is our responsibility to act. On behalf of the young volunteers of the Red Cross and Red Crescent we hereby present this Youth Manifesto on mental health demanding visibility, acknowledgement and action within the Movement.
This Manifesto stems from a wide range of the experiences and expertise of young volunteers working and living in different contexts. 5000 young volunteers from 82 countries were involved in shaping the Manifesto.
5000
Young people
across the world have given their input
82
National Societies
participated in the process
3
concrete suggestions
for the Red Cross and Red Crescent
A working group led by the IFRC Youth Commission, with the Danish Red Cross Youth and Kenya Red Cross Youth transformed the thousands of inputs into three concrete suggestions for the Red Cross and Red Crescent. All of which are elaborated on in the Manifesto.
5000 young people from 82 countries across the world have given their input to the Manifesto.
Background and context
As the largest humanitarian network on earth, millions of volunteers navigate through natural disasters, political issues, and humanitarian hardships. Depression is one of the leading causes of disability globally. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely – as much as two decades early – due to preventable physical conditions. Despite progress in some countries, people with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination, and stigma.
Youth Manifesto for mental health awareness
The Youth Commission of the IFRC has developed four thematic areas to work with between 2020-2023. One of the chosen areas are mental health. The importance to work on mental health was born with the resolution on the last International Conference in 2019, where as we can see, mental health is explained as an operational area of work. It’s however very focused on the expertise of the Movement to provide psychosocial support and first psychological aid.
Aim and objective
The main purpose of the project “Youth Manifesto for mental health awareness” is:
Initiate an interactive dialogue within the RCRC Movement that recognizes mental health as a vulnerability on its own that National Societies around the world need to take action on – specific light is shed on how young people are impacted, but the manifesto aims to generate inter-generational discussion and reflection on our RCRC role in this domain as a whole.
President of the Danish Red Cross Youth, Jonas Wiederholt Larsen, presenting the Manifesto for Secretary General of the IFRC, Jagan Chapagain, at Geneva, May 2022.
Vice President of the Danish Red Cross Youth, Charlotte Geneser, presenting the aims and background for the Youth Manifesto on mental health for IFRC and the IFRC Youth Comission, May 2022.