Deputy Secretary-General Unveils UN Initiative to Make Youth Mental Health ‘Defining Cause’ of Generation, at World Social Summit Session

Following are Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the World Social Summit Solutions Session on "Youth Leading the Way: Reimagining the Future of Child and Youth Mental Health & Well-being", in Doha today:

Let me speak directly to the young people in this room when I say: I know you're hurting. Climate anxiety. A pandemic that stole your youth. The highest number of conflicts in history. Economic uncertainty. One crisis after another. These are making it harder to function and even harder to cope. And poor mental health doesn't just hurt - it closes doors, reduces opportunities, denies you a dignified life.

One in seven young people worldwide lives with a mental health condition. Many of you can't get out of bed some mornings. You feel like you're drowning, and here's the worst part: You don't want to say it out loud because you don't want to appear inadequate, like you can't cope when everyone else seems fine.

But here's the truth: Life has ups and downs. Everyone faces them. Everyone who will come up here and speak today has faced them. I have faced them, and that's okay.

What's not okay is that you don't have the support systems and coping mechanisms to get through the downs. What's not okay is the stigma that makes you suffer in silence.

Mental health is not about a pill for every problem. It's about community and the social systems we build together: These are the shock absorbers that catch you. Not waiting for some distant system to save you when you fall, but your family, your friends, your community walking alongside you every single day.

When a young mother faces postpartum depression, she needs clinical care as well as her family and community brought closer, giving her support until she is able to return to work.

When a young man loses his job, he needs a both a strong support network and access to social protection to help him regain stability.

When a young person becomes a carer - for an ageing parent, a sibling, a loved one who's ill - their life transforms. Some are doing this full-time. Others are balancing it with school or work, managing appointments and medications while trying to keep up with everything else. The emotional toll, the isolation, the constant worry - you need respite, recognition and communities that understand what you're carrying.

Without coping mechanisms and support in place, young people can't navigate life's inevitable challenges.

You've told us that mental health must be a priority. We hear you, we are listening and it will shape what we do in the last mile toward 2030.

That's why the UN Youth Office, with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and partners, is launching a Flagship Initiative on Youth Mental Health and Well-being and building support into your communities, schools and spaces where you are.

Let today spark action that makes youth mental health a defining cause of this generation. Thank you.