23 August 2023 – Young people are tomorrow’s leaders and today’s agents of change. WHO believes that young people’s voices should be at the heart of decisions that impact the health of people around the world. The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is thus looking to collaborate with youth organizations and establish a regional Youth Council to scale up the contribution of youth in efforts to promote public health in the Region and create a comprehensive and inclusive WHO youth engagement strategy.

The regional Youth Council will serve as a dynamic network for stakeholders to amplify the voices and experiences of young people, and harness and expand their expertise, energy and ideas to promote public health. Your organization’s ideas, experiences and expertise will support WHO in its efforts to strengthen youth contributions to public health systems, which will enable our Member States to meaningfully engage young people as key drivers in policy-making processes.

Read our terms of reference.

The WHO regional Youth Council will:

be inclusive and diverse in membership and structure, ensuring gender balance and adequate representation from different stakeholder groups, geographical regions and income levels;

be transparent in all processes, including operational strategy and activities;

ensure that all activities align with WHO’s norms and standards; and

facilitate coordination among interested parties to advance WHO’s priorities on the contribution of youth to the public health agenda.

WHO is looking to collaborate with:

intergovernmental organizations

nongovernmental organizations (including patient organizations)

academic institutions and research institutions focused on youth

philanthropic foundations

youth parliamentarian groups.

Your organization should contribute significantly to the advancement of public health and to the objectives, vision and goal of the WHO regional Youth Council and demonstrate documented support for WHO’s work and activities on youth. It should also be active regionally and have been operating in the field of youth and public health with proven experience and expertise in the subject matter for at least 3 years.

Get involved

Please submit your application by Tuesday 19 September 2023.

If you have any questions, please contact the WHO regional Youth Council Secretariat at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Your contributions

As a member of the Regional Youth Council, your organization will be expected to contribute between one and three hours a week participating in virtual small focus/working groups and/or larger workshops that will be conducted in a highly supportive environment.

Each activity and engagement will be unique, will not require previous engagement or participation and will build upon the discussions and key themes discussed.

Timings of meetings will facilitate attendance from across the different time zones of the Region.

If you have accessibility needs, we will aim to find the easiest way for you to take part.

As a member of the WHO Youth Council your organization’s name will be added to the Regional Youth Council website.

The countries in which WHO operates in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, can be found on this page: https://www.emro.who.int/countries.html