The Youth Wellbeing Initiative at the Aga Khan University Institute for Human Development seeks to advocate and implement programs that promote the health and general wellbeing of youth. Our programmes address a variety of issues that the youth face by: promoting their mental health, fostering connectedness among adolescents and their families, assessing the impact of extreme adversity on adolescent developmental outcomes, and generating evidence on implications, gaps, and opportunities that can promote youth wellbeing.
The era of youth, in particular, adolescence is a vital developmental stage marked by increased activity, identity, and vulnerability in an individual. Investing in the youth provides a lot of benefits. Investing in them can accelerate the fight against poverty, gender discrimination and inequity; and it is generally an important way of consolidating global gains achieved in early and middle childhood. Additionally, it is a human right for the youth to access opportunities that optimize their full potential and livelihoods, without discrimination. In this regard, the initiative aims to conduct research to promote and improve the health of African adolescents and youth.
Our work is in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3, which seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. We are keen to implement interventions and programs that aim to promote mental health and well-being.
