UNICEF and Spotify partner to support mental health and wellbeing of young people

Warsaw, 19 July 2023 – Effectively helping young people and supporting their mental health needs is the primary goal of the UNICEF and Spotify partnership. The partnership is designed to combine the ability to reach a wide audience thanks to the popular streaming platform and the extensive expert knowledge of the world's largest organization working for children.

UNICEF in partnership with Spotify launched a new Spotify destination called “Our Minds Matter” available in Polish, Ukrainian and English.

The initial focus is on responding to the urgent mental health needs of young people who have been affected by the war in Ukraine. The destination offers a combination of music and content designed to support mental health and well-being. The “On My Mind” podcast, which is part of the “Our Minds Matter” destination on Spotify, is designed to break down the stigma of talking about mental health and provide ways to manage anxiety and nurture healthy relationships. It is a safe space for young people with easily accessible, verified and reliable information.

To make sure the project responds to the needs of adolescents, Spotify and UNICEF worked together with young people from Ukraine and Poland to co-create, adapt, digitize, and translate mental health content and continue to curate new music and talk playlists that support mental health and well-being to be featured on this platform.

Mental health and well-being are among the most important components of a child's healthy development and future. Today, one in seven adolescents globally experience a mental health condition, with half of all mental disorders developing before the age of 14, and 75 per cent by the mid-20s. Increased conflict around the world has led to a record 89 million children being displaced from their homes, exposing them to severe psychological distress.

“Understanding the everyday mental health needs of young people directly affected by the war in Ukraine is key to being able to support them. That is why I am delighted that UNICEF has joined hands with Spotify and is collaborating with a group of Ukrainian and Polish youth to co-create the “On My Mind” podcast”, said Dr. Rashed Mustafa Sarwar, Country Coordinator, UNICEF Refugee Response Office in Poland. „Ensuring mental health and well-being in an adolescent’s formative years can foster a better transition from childhood to adulthood, as well as help them to reach their full potential in the future.”

“Thanks to the cooperation with Spotify, we have the opportunity to reach young people widely through a platform that many of them use every day. Support can also be easily accessed by people who are reluctant to traditional forms of psychological support and have difficult access to this type of service. This is especially important in the case of the youth whose mental state is affected by the devastating impact of conflicts” says Renata Bem, Director General of UNICEF Poland.

It is worth noting that all content available in the “Our Mind Matter” destination on Spotify is available free of charge. This means that every teenager in Poland has access to a wide range of content that responds to young people's needs in terms of mental and psychosocial health, no matter where they are. Through the project with Spotify, UNICEF hopes to reach as many young people in Poland and in other countries as possible and thus support their mental health.