Spotify and UNICEF support mental health and well-being of young people through the power of audio
A partner since 2022
In October 2022, Spotify and UNICEF joined forces in a three year partnership to support the mental health and well-being of young people and their caregivers, including refugees and migrants. Spotify also provides a financial contribution to support UNICEFs vital work for children's mental health and well-being, including on-the ground programming.
Mental health and well-being are fundamental 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.
Together, Spotify and UNICEF aim to have a significant impact on the promotion of mental well-being across the world by combining Spotify’s platform, user reach and expertise in content with UNICEF’s mental health expertise, programme reach and collaboration experience. The partnership includes the development of a Youth Mental Well-Being destination on Spotify.
For refugee children, reaching safety is just a start. Once they are out of harm’s way, refugee children and their families need safe spaces and opportunities to begin to support their mental well-being again after facing extremely difficult experiences.
The digital content amplified through the Youth Mental Well-Being destination on Spotify is designed to complement UNICEF’s offline programmatic work by helping to raise awareness of mental health resources.
To reduce the rising burden of mental disorders, efforts to promote mental well-being among all young people and their caregivers are critical. Despite growing awareness about the negative effects and financial costs of mental health conditions on lives and communities, wide investment gaps persist, particularly for mental health promotion and prevention programmes. Partnerships like this are critical to help bridge that gap.
Spotify also joins the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Well-being, founded by UNICEF with the support of the Z Zurich Foundation. The coalition work aims to mobilize public and private sector investment and action to promote youth mental well-being.
“Children and young people are our future, and we need to invest in the critical mental health support they need, particularly for those who have fled their homes. Failure to invest leaves them vulnerable to greater distress and missing out on life chances, limiting their potential,” said Carla Haddad Mardini, Director of UNICEF’s Private Fundraising and Partnerships. “Businesses have a crucial role to play in raising awareness and driving investment and action. Thank you, Spotify, for showing global leadership on mental health and I encourage others to do the same.
About Spotify
Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 80 million tracks, including 4.7 million podcasts, for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features for music including improved sound quality and an on-demand, offline, and ad-free music listening experience. Today, Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 456 million users, including 195 million subscribers, across 183 markets.
References:
- Ref: Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx)
- Ref: Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE. (2005). Lifetime Prevalence and Age-of-Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62 (6) pp. 593-602. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593.
