The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) will hold a Global Forum for Adolescents dedicated to achieving the SDG through a laser like focus on this population group. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG 3 aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”

Central to this goal are the concepts of health and well-being. The United Nations Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030), which aims to “ensure health and well-being for every woman, child and adolescent” within the context of the SDGs, recognizes that adolescents will be central to the overall success of the strategy.

Building on successful Partners’ Forums in 2007 (Dar es Salaam), 2010 (New Delhi), 2014 (Johannesburg) and 2018 (New Delhi) the Global Forum for Adolescents comes at a pivotal moment: mid-way into the Sustainable Development Goal era, to take stock of progress made, course correct and seek greater collaboration among stakeholders and sectors to accelerate progress toward the ambitious objectives and targets of the SDGs.

The Forum, a priority recommendation of the Call to Action for Adolescents, co-owned and co-produced by young people, presents an unparalleled opportunity to focus global attention on adolescents by recognizing them as key to building back better in the post pandemic world, unveiling new evidence, updating existing  programme guidance, celebrating country success stories and highlighting how further momentum and progress can be made – especially, by collaborating across sectors (health, education, nutrition, social protection, water & sanitation, etc.) and implementing a well-being approach.

The ambition is that the Forum, leveraging digital technology and innovation, will reach more than a 1 million people across the world through a digital interactive programme and active social and conventional media campaign, with representation at the highest levels including heads of state and ministers, representatives from civil society, the private sector, health and social care professionals, and all of PMNCH’s constituencies. It will serve as a platform to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to garner political and financial attention and commitments from countries to adopt policies and programs prioritizing investment in adolescents’ well-being – it will be a milestone moment for kickstarting policy shift and programme re-design at the country level as an outcome of the Forum.

Expected Advocacy Outcomes

  • Improved political attention and prioritization of adolescents' well-being, firm commitments, strengthened accountability, concrete action plans, allocations of roles and resources including through an announcement of a joint initiative for adolescents through one of the intergovernmental political forums e.g. G20.
  • Greater consensus and alignment among PMNCH’s 1,200+ partners on priorities, strategies and technical approaches to improve adolescent well-being and its intersection with emerging priorities (e.g. digital technologies, climate justice, mental well-being and addressing violence) as well as impact on SRHR, Gender and Equity.
  • Greater knowledge of good practices, innovations and ”doing more with less” to support required action and accountability, across sectors, supporting the five domains of the Adolescent Well-being Framework;
  • Meaningful adolescent and youth engagement as the cornerstone of developing policies and programmes related to adolescents and youth, driving all aspects of the Global Forum 2023 and inspiring practical implementation of the Global Consensus on Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement across various organizations globally, regionally and nationally.

To ensure that these outcomes are achieved, PMNCH and partners will start a unique process of embedding adolescent well-being as a priority area of action and review at the global, regional and national level for sustainable results and making a difference to the well-being of adolescents and through them the continuum across countries and regions. This approach will ensure sustainable impact and tangible results, linked to the high-level policy, financing and services related outcomes in the PMNCH Results Framework.

Objectives

This Global Forum for Adolescents will:

  • Foster and register additional pledges to increase policy, financing and/or service-related commitments, while building on existing commitments;
  • Provide a platform to share new evidence on the effectiveness of multisectoral responses, economic and financial analyses on the return on investment in adolescent well-being, and recent developments related to indicators and monitoring of adolescent well-being - it will also spotlight country solutions, innovations and compelling stories from young people about their fight for rights and a better future, not only for themselves but for generations to come;
  • Showcase people-centered accountability to ensure commitments translate to action, bringing forward the voices of adolescents and their lived realities and reflect how the duty bearers and we as a global community have responded to their needs and asks;
  • Foster a space for adolescents and youth, including the Adolescent and Youth Constituency (AYC) members, to strengthen their capacities and engage with partners at country level;
  • Link and facilitate opportunities for innovative partnerships, including hosting an innovative digital marketplace between constituencies for increased collaboration for implementation and impact.

 

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