New connections were forged and insights shared at last month’s Being Global Gathering, where youth mental health innovators from around the world came together for four days of networking, collaboration and knowledge sharing.
The Being Initiative supports young people’s mental health by funding research, innovation, and ecosystem-building in 12 priority low- and middle-income nations, and Orygen Global is driving Being’s Learning and Support Network, which focuses on providing support and training to youth mental health advocates from those nations.
Held in Rabat, Morocco, the Global Gathering brought together 36 youth mental health innovators and offered a rare opportunity for funders, partners and advocates to align efforts and build new collaborations.
The gathering featured interactive presentations, facilitated discussions, site visits and workshops, where attendees had the opportunity to showcase their projects, share best practice and reflect on lessons learnt with their peers.
- Click play below to watch a video from Morocco, featuring Orygen Global's Nataya Branjerdporn
Nataya Branjerdporn, Projects and Partnership Manager at Orygen Global, said Orygen Global was proud to be leading the Learning and Support Network, bringing expertise and existing relationships to support collaboration opportunities such as the Global Gathering.
“This amazing event underscores the importance of innovation, collaboration, and youth leadership in tackling global youth mental health challenges,” Nataya said.
“It’s inspiring to see how quickly connections can grow and how working together can give us a renewed sense of hope and purpose when we return home to keep striving for better youth mental health in our unique contexts.”
Melani O’Leary, Associate Director of Global Health Innovation at Grand Challenges Canada, which hosts the Being Initiative, said solving youth mental health challenges required more than just funding and isolated interventions.
“Inequalities continue to reinforce the systemic barriers that prevent youth mental health innovations from being sustainable, which is why mobilising collective action is imperative,” Melani said.
“We need holistic, systems-based solutions, and opportunities like this to explore new approaches with like-minded people are so important.”
One young advocate, Viet Trinh from Lighthouse Enterprises in Vietnam, who is focused on LGBTIQ+ mental health and sexual health in the Asia Pacific region, said he had learnt a lot from his time at the gathering.
“My heart is full, I’m inspired by so many folks and I’ve learned so much from other innovators,” he said.
“Sometimes as youth mental health leaders we can find ourselves in a dark spot – but events like this help us to regain hope, and return home ready to advocate.”
The Being Global Gathering was made possible with support from the Centre Mohammed VI de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, who hosted the group, and the Being Initiative Partners: Grand Challenges Canada, Fondation Botnar, The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Science for Africa Foundation, United for Global Mental Health and Orygen Global.