Emerging Themes and Policy Recommendations
Unstoppable Together: Thematic Policy Recommendations
From our discussions and engagements with young people, youth-led organisations and national organisations of the Big Six we are calling on multinational agencies and institutions, governments, policymakers and corporations to:
Covid-19 prevention, vaccines and combating misinformation
- Prioritise effective, accessible and evidence-based risk communication strategies and community engagement efforts to combat the spread of misinformation during a pandemic, health emergency or any other global crisis.
- Empower and engage young people to take active roles in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring pandemic preparedness through prevention and protection measures at local, national and international levels.
- Ensure and strengthen young people’s participation in the planning and design of response and recovery efforts, engaging them in preparedness and disaster risk reduction activities at all levels to be ready to prevent, respond and recover.
- Invest in and make accessible funding available for young people to be able to take action through local solutions that respond to the needs in their local communities in a disaster or emergency context.
Mental and Physical health
- Ensure equitable access to healthcare for children and young people, regardless of background, gender or employment status, with mental health as a key priority.
- Increase funding for lifesaving, youth-focussed mental health services and support.
- Invest in local solutions and adaptive programming; encourage greater collaboration between non-governmental, public and private sector providers.
Education disruption and employability
- Invest in flexible, digital-first and holistic approaches to education that combine effective classroom learning, non-formal education and learning solutions.
- Give young people access to resources, including mentoring, peer-to-peer support and financial investment, so they are empowered to implement their ideas and test their own solutions.
- Involve young people and young leaders in intergenerational dialogues, decision-making and planning at all levels, in both policymaking and the adoption of youth-led solutions.
- Increase financial support for the non-profit sector, particularly non-formal education organisations, to ensure they can survive future crises and serve new community needs in a post-pandemic reality.
Gender equality and combating domestic and gender-based violence
- Create safe spaces for young women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community to share experiences, support one another and increase awareness of the danger of domestic and gender-based violence.
- Strengthen capacity of local organisations to be able to respond to reports of violence, monitor services and referral pathways; strengthen cyber laws and online harassment reporting schemes, with a particular focus on preventing gender-based and sexual orientation-based violence, as well as violence towards children.
- Recognise menstrual hygiene as a human right and combat the stigma associated with menstruation to ensure no one is prevented from accessing education, social services or other services.