SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Institutions: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Dartmouth College (USA) will co-host a three-day Global Symposium on Youth Well-Being from 26–28 October 2025, drawing on insights from the Human Development Report 2025. The report highlights a global decline in youth mental health and life satisfaction, closely linked with near-universal smartphone use and digital-age anxiety.
The symposium will gather policymakers, scientists, and youth advocates to explore the evidence behind this “global turning point” and shape a policy response. It seeks to identify practical, evidence-based interventions, across education, employment, and digital governance, to address the youth well-being crisis and embed mental-health indicators in development policy.
Sessions will span research dialogues, experiential workshops on mental health and environment, and a concluding policy forum led by Pedro Conceição, Director, UNDP HDRO, outlining a global action framework for youth well-being.
For India, home to over 250 million youth, these findings reinforce the urgency of integrating mental-health, employment, and digital-well-being metrics into national planning. Embedding well-being indicators within the National Youth Policy and expanding mental-health support through Ayushman Bharat and Digital India could align domestic efforts with UNDP’s global agenda.
What is the significance of Dartmouth College in current context? → Dartmouth College is an Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire (USA), known for its research in neuroscience, psychology, and social behaviour. Its collaboration with UNDP bridges academic evidence and policy design, using brain-science and behavioural insights to inform youth-well-being strategies worldwide.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can India institutionalise youth mental-health and digital-well-being metrics within its development frameworks to pre-empt a generational decline in human capital?
Follow the full news here: https://hdr.undp.org/content/global-turning-point-why-youth-well-being-crisis-and-what-we-must-do-about-it