Who is most at risk of death?
The chances of survival for adolescents and young adults around the world vary widely. In 2020, 10- to 24-year-olds had the highest probability of dying in sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), North Africa, and South Asia (1). On average, a 10-year-old child is six times more likely to die before age 24 in sub-Saharan Africa than in North America and Europe.
Rights of adolescents
International legal instruments enshrine the rights of children (members of the under-18 age group) to survival, growth, and development. In 2013. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which monitors the Convention on the Rights of the Child, published guidelines on the right of children and adolescents to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health, and in 2016 a general comment was published on the implementation of children’s rights in adolescence. It emphasizes the obligation of states to recognize the special health and developmental needs and rights of adolescents and young people.
WHO Activities
In May 2017. WHO published a major report, Global Accelerated Action for Adolescent Health (AA-HA!): a guide to support implementation in countries. This guide was prepared following extensive consultations with Member States, United Nations agencies, adolescents and young people, civil society representatives, and other partners. It is intended to assist national governments in identifying and planning the necessary actions to address the health needs of adolescents. This reference document is intended for policymakers and program managers at the national level in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating adolescent health programs. Sixty-eight countries have been trained to use the guide for national priority setting, program design, monitoring, and evaluation, and many countries are now using the methodology suggested in the guide to update national strategies and policies.
To improve adolescent health measurement worldwide, WHO, in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, the World Bank Group and the World Food Programme (WFP), has established the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group. It provides technical advice to WHO and its UN agency partners to identify a core set of adolescent health indicators for harmonizing efforts on adolescent health measurement and reporting.
Overall, WHO performs a variety of tasks in the area of adolescent health promotion, including:
- Developing evidence-based guidelines to support health services and other sectors;
- Developing recommendations for governments on adolescent health and adolescent-friendly health systems, including high-quality, age-appropriate health services for adolescents;
- Documenting progress in improving adolescent health and development;
- Raising awareness among the general public and other stakeholders about young people’s health issues;
- Advocating with governments and working with youth organizations and youth service providers to help create structures and build processes at the national level to institutionalize adolescent participation in dialogues related to relevant areas of public policy, funding, and program implementation.