In partnership with the United Nations Youngsters’s Fund (UNICEF), the Caribbean Neighborhood Secretariat will launch a survey on the psychological well being and well-being points skilled by youth throughout the Area.
The launch will coincide with World Mental Health Day, noticed internationally on 10 October. Actions this yr are being held beneath the theme “Psychological well being is a common human proper.”
Figuring out psychological well being challenges
The survey outcomes will inform actions related to reaching Aim #3 of the CARICOM Youth Improvement Motion Plan (CYDAP) to enhance the well being and holistic well-being of adolescents and youth and the Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.4.
Michele Small-Bartley, Deputy Programme Supervisor, Youth Improvement on the CARICOM Secretariat, defined that the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Pan American Well being Organisation (PAHO), would utilise the outcomes from the info evaluation to develop a programme that may search to construct the capability of youth practitioners and leaders throughout the Neighborhood.
Particularly, the programme would help practitioners in figuring out psychological well being and psychological indicators and signs amongst youth. She additional highlighted that the trainees would act as first responders to aiding youth with challenges that will result in psychological well being, psychological or emotional points.
Heightened vulnerability
The Deputy Programme Supervisor underscored that the survey is being carried out at a crucial second for the Area, as psychological well being and youth dominate discussions and agendas of regional and worldwide conferences, together with the upcoming 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28).
In keeping with Small-Bartley, “Publicity to environmental points related to local weather change and social and financial challenges, additional exacerbated by the impression of COVID-19 occurring on the Member State degree, has affected younger individuals’s potential to navigate their pathway efficiently. These points have heightened youth vulnerability, making them extra inclined to psychosocial, emotional and psychological well being points.”
Constructing Resilience of Caribbean Youth
A examine by UNICEF (2020) carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean revealed that 27% of youth respondents have been experiencing nervousness, whereas 15% have been depressed. Moreover, one in each two younger individuals lacked the motivation to do their standard actions. Notably, 43% of females expressed dissatisfaction with the long run, in comparison with 31% of males. Three (3) in each 4 (4) felt the necessity to ask for assist.
The CARICOM-UNICEF survey outcomes could be integral to formulating methods to construct the capability of youth to determine, handle and search options to those psychological well being points.
As well as, Small-Bartley shared that the challenge will begin with amassing information utilizing a survey instrument that measures despair, basic nervousness, well-being, and assist. The CARICOM Secretariat and UNICEF will collectively generate and publish the report within the public area from the collected and analysed information.
The initiative’s overarching objective is to construct Caribbean Youth’s resilience to deal with challenges that will result in psychological points for higher psychological well being outcomes.
