Engage
How to get involved in our Community of Practice
This page offers opportunities to engage with a global community of practitioners, caregivers, and adolescents working on adolescent mental health. Through capacity-building initiatives, events, and curated opportunities for engagement, we foster multi sectoral collaboration, peer to peer learning and cross-regional knowledge exchange. By bringing together diverse voices, from policy makers to youth advocates, we create a space for co-creation, collaboration, innovation and collective action to drive meaningful change in adolescent mental health.
Explore ways to get involved—starting with signing up for our newsletter to stay informed and be part of this growing movement.
What does the Community of Practice offer?
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Resources
Access curated, evidence-based resources and materials around preventive and promotive adolescent mental health.
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Community events
Join webinars, workshops, and learning exchanges designed to connect members, share experiences, and build collective capacity across sectors.
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Engagement and communications
Stay connected through regular newsletters, updates, and member spotlights that keep the community informed, inspired, and involved.
Capacity Building
Training: Supporting the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of youth changemakers
What: This interactive, two-day online training is designed to empower young changemakers with the knowledge, skills, and tools to protect and promote their mental health and psychosocial well-being. Through a series of engaging activities, this training covers key topics such as emotional awareness, stress management, healthy habit formation, boundary setting, problem-solving, and effective communication. Participants will learn how to create their own tailored resource list to support their well-being and leave with a resilience building toolkit as they continue their impactful work.
This training is only open to young changemakers between 15-25 years old.
When: Check back in for more dates!
Online course: Promoting children’s development and wellbeing
Learn key facilitation skills and activities to promote resilience and wellbeing of distressed children, families, and caregivers.
This special 6-hour online training was developed by Save the Children and sector experts in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).
Online course: Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of adolescents affected by conflict
This course is for practitioners working on programmes for and with adolescents and their caregivers affected by the war in Ukraine. It may also be useful programme managers to develop and deliver programmes of high quality. By the end of this course, you will be able to:
1. Describe some challenges and risks adolescents and caregivers face in conflict settings.
2. Identify appropriate methods of supporting adolescents and caregivers.
3. Recognise practical tools on how to support adolescents and caregivers in conflict settings.
Online course: Foundations of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
This online course, hosted by the MHPSS Collaborative, is designed to equip participants with a comprehensive understanding of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and its critical role in humanitarian and development contexts.
Events
Global Webinar on Adolescent Girls and Mental Health
You are invited to a Global Webinar on Adolescent Girls and Mental Health on Thursday, 4 December 2025, from 9–10am (ET), hosted by UNICEF's Adolescent Mental Health Hub.
Join adolescent girl changemakers and UNICEF colleagues from around the world for an inspiring discussion on how we can better understand and support the mental health of adolescent girls and young women. Together, we’ll spotlight their unique needs and explore how policies, programmes, communities, and young changemakers themselves can create a stronger foundation for girls’ wellbeing. During the session, we will also hear from programs around the world, including a girl-focused mental health podcast, sports programming for girls, and initiatives supporting the mental health needs of pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers.
Event Details:
🗓 Date: Thursday, 4 December 20205
🕘 Time: 9-10am ET (find your local time here).
🌐 Platform: Zoom, in English with simultaneous translation available in French, Arabic and Spanish
Parenting and Protecting Adolescents in the Age of Social Media and AI
25 November 2025 5pm
Event type Talk with Q&A
Webinar, via Zoom at 17:00 - 18:30 UK time, 18:00 - 19:30 CET, 12:00 - 13:30 EST
Adolescents spend much of their lives online, prompting widespread concern that screen time, social media, and now artificial intelligence (AI) are harming their mental health. Headlines about online risks are constant, and policymakers around the world are moving quickly to restrict access to digital technologies. Yet research offers a more nuanced view of how the online world shapes adolescents’ developing brains and bodies.
In this talk, award-winning psychologist Professor Candice Odgers will cut through the fears with evidence, addressing adolescent mental health in the digital age and sharing science-backed strategies to help parents, educators, and communities support young people effectively.
Webinar | Where Creativity Meets Care: Strengthening Child and Youth Mental Health through the Arts
Join us on Wednesday 26 November 2025 from 14:00 to 15:15 CET for this season's third Wednesday for Wellbeing Webinar:
Where Creativity Meets Care: Strengthening Child and Youth Mental Health through the Arts
How can creativity become a cornerstone of care for children and adolescents affected by crisis? Building on the growing evidence base and practical frameworks for arts-based approaches within mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) systems, this webinar will provide practical insights into how the arts can be integrated across all layers of the IASC MHPSS pyramid in emergencies.
Drawing on examples from diverse contexts, the discussion will highlight effective monitoring and evaluation methods, integrating local dynamics, beliefs and culturally meaningful healing practices into interventions, and emphasize the specific needs and strengths of children and youth.
The Wednesday for Wellbeing is a series of webinars started in 2024 spotlighting diverse approaches for children, youth, and families’ mental health and wellbeing in humanitarian settings.
The series is planned and presented by the members of the Child and Family Thematic Group under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) MHPSS Reference Group, co-chaired by UNICEF and the MHPSS Collaborative.
2nd Global Conference: Child and Adolescent Mental Health | Bold Ideas for Brighter Futures 2026
Bold Ideas for Brighter Futures 2026, the 2nd Global Conference on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, in May 2026, convening over 300 leading experts and stakeholders from around the world. This scientific conference will serve as a dynamic platform to share bold ideas, cutting-edge research, and practical innovations aimed at improving the mental health of children and adolescents—especially in low- and middle-income countries. Participants will include researchers, mental health practitioners, policymakers, youth advocates, civil society leaders, the private sector, and international organizations, all working together to shape global responses to child and adolescent mental health challenges.
27th World Congress of IACAPAP 2026 (International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions)
Shape the future of child and adolescent mental health by submitting your proposal for IACAPAP 2026. Whether you're planning a symposium or submitting a poster or oral presentation, this is your opportunity to contribute to the global conversation in child and adolescent mental health.
We strongly encourage submissions across the full spectrum of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In particular, we welcome contributions that explore:
- Developmental pathways of risk and resilience
- Digital Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Mental Health in Global Crises
- Rethinking Child and Adolescent Psychiatry – paradigms, theories, and practice
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Services – Innovation, Inclusion, and Implementation
- Prevention, Early Intervention, and Mental Health Promotion
The length of your on-site presentation depends on the type of submission.
- Standard symposia length is 90 minutes and typically includes 4–5 speakers.
- Oral presentations will have 10 minutes for the talk, followed by 3 minutes for discussion/questions.
- Posters will be presented within 5 minutes with an additional 3 minutes for discussion/questions during the Poster Session.
Submission periods:
- Symposia: July 2025 – 30 October 2025
- Poster & Oral Presentations: July 2025 – 20 January 2026
Reviewing periods:
- Symposia: 5 November 2025 – 20 November 2025
- Poster & Oral Presentations: 26 January 2026 – 16 February 2026
Opportunities
Global Mapping of Youth-led Initiatives on Mental Health & Well Being by UN Youth Office
As part of a global effort to elevate youth voices and action in the field of mental health and well-being, the UN Youth Office is mapping youth-led initiatives from around the world. Whether you're leading a local project, running a national campaign, or sparking global change — your work matters.
This form is a space to share your story, highlight your impact, and become part of a global community of young changemakers working to transform mental health systems from the ground up.
If your initiative is youth-led and focuses on mental health and well-being — in any form, anywhere in the world — we invite you to fill out this form and help us build this collective movement!
Being Initiative: Request for Proposal
The Being Initiative, in partnership with Grand Challenges Canada, has launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) to fund innovative, youth-led projects that promote and prevent mental health challenges among underserved young people aged 10–24. Focusing on 12 priority countries—Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Vietnam—the initiative seeks culturally sensitive, community-driven solutions that address the social, environmental, and systemic factors affecting youth mental well-being, particularly in urban and peri-urban settings.
Two funding streams are available:
- Proof-of-Concept (POC): Up to $250,000 CAD for early-stage projects aimed at testing and refining innovative approaches.
- Transition-to-Scale (TTS): Between $300,000 and $1.5 million CAD for scaling proven interventions with demonstrated impact.
Preference is given to youth-led organizations based in the priority countries, and all proposals must involve meaningful participation from young people, including those with lived experience of mental health challenges. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through a two-stage process via the Grand Challenges Canada Fluxx Portal.
Advocacy Roadmap: On the road to the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health
Mental Health is at the core of the 4th High-Level Meeting (HLM) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in 2025. This is a rare occasion of mental health included at the core of a UNGA high-level meeting. Overall, this agenda is an urgent opportunity to secure new progressive commitments to deliver high quality, rights-based, cost-efficient, integrated person-centred mental health services, across primary, secondary, tertiary and community-based prevention and care.
Check the website below for opportunities for stakeholders to contribute to the ongoing preparatory process for the HLM.
Call for papers: Mental health and armed conflict
This call by the International Review of the Red Cross seeks proposals for papers that examine mental health in and resulting from armed conflicts through a range of academic lenses, with a focus on perspectives from international law, policy, and action. This includes the psychological impact of armed conflict on specific categories of persons not taking a direct part in hostilities, such as children, women, displaced persons, persons with disabilities, those deprived of their liberty and weapon wounded persons.
Call for submissions: BMC Public Health's collection of adolescent mental health
BMC Public Health called for submissions to our collection on mental health of adolescents. Adolescence is a critical developmental stage marked by significant physical and emotional changes, with mental health being heavily influenced by societal pressures, academic demands, and technology. Rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders among adolescents pose a global concern, affecting both immediate quality of life and long-term well-being. Addressing these issues is essential for fostering healthy development and preventing future psychosocial challenges.
This Collection sought submissions that explore factors influencing adolescent mental health, such as trends in mental health disorders, risk and protective factors, the impact of digital platforms, school environments, family relationships, barriers to accessing mental health services, and effective intervention strategies.