Johnson told representatives from the Youth 7 on Thursday, at the G7’s International Media Centre, that he would push G7 leaders to include a statement on mental health “because of what young people [the Y7] had been saying to him”. The Youth 7 welcomes this statement and looks forward to seeing bold action on mental health included in the final G7 communiqué.

The Y7 has been advocating for the importance of mental health, and other key priorities across the economy, health, environment and digital and technology since February 2021.

In May 2021, after consulting with 10,000 young people around the world, young leaders from each of the G7 countries, plus the EU and Australia, announced their recommendations for world leaders.

The Y7 delegates presented these priorities – emphasising mental health as a key priority for young people and calling on world leaders to take action to improve, support and empower young people struggling with mental health conditions – at meetings with G7 Ministers and officials. They have held two conversations with U.K. G7 Sherpa Jonathan Black on the matter too. Sophie Daud, CEO of Future Leaders Network and Chair of this year’s Y7, met with the Prime Minister in May 2021, highlighting the importance of young people’s mental health, and Evie Asinall, U.K. Y7 Head Delegate, met with the Prime Minister just before the start of the G7 and received his positive assurance it would be raised in this year’s Leaders’ declaration.

A survey report, commissioned by the Future Leaders Network and conducted by Opinium, showed that 56% of the UK’s youth ranked mental health as their top health priority.

The youth recommendations have focused on “Making Waves for Future Generations”. Envisaging a world which recognises the mental health needs of its recipients, the youth delegates call on G7 leaders to:

• Introduce mental health stigma eradication measures through incorporating educational curricula changes and targeted campaigns immediately, and train young people so they can adequately support their peers facing mental health crises.

• Provide universal, accessible, affordable mental health care services both as part of primary care provision and in convenient environments such as educational and workplace settings, where youth may seek help.

• Include youth directly in designing, delivering, promoting and evaluating mental health services intended for them by valuing their expertise and lived experience through data- based processes, including disaggregated data analyses.

Whilst the Youth 7 will welcome bold commitments on mental health, they argue that the world leaders should have been much more ambitious on their global vaccination rollout pledge and to have pledged significantly more funding for girls’ education globally.

Commenting on mental health, Haarith Ndiaye, the UK Health Delegate, said:

“Even before the pandemic, young people’s mental health was in crisis. One year on from when COVID-19 first became a lived reality in the UK and after a series of national lockdowns, we’re more desperate for help than we’ve ever been. Bereavement, isolation, fear, and economic deprivation have struck the nation and young people have been disproportionately affected.”

At a media briefing, The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson, said:

“Mental health […] is a really important issue for the Prime Minister. And we recognise the impact that this pandemic has had on mental health, particularly on the mental health of young people who have perhaps bore the brunt of this in many ways.”

Commenting, Sophie Daud, CEO of the Future Leaders Network, said:

“We welcome this commitment by the Prime Minister to putting mental health at the heart of the G7 and look forward to seeing this translated into bold commitments in the final communiqué. However, young people made 36 recommendations to the G7 and there is still a long way to go to deliver the major societal changes needed for the sake of future generations.”

The Youth 7 (Y7) is one of six engagement groups supported by the U.K. Government during its 2021 G7 Presidency, with the others being the Business 7, Civil Society 7, Labour 7, Science 7 and Women 7.

The Y7 2021 is hosted by the Future Leaders Network and the Summit took place virtually on 8 – 9 May and 14 – 15 May.