This morning Brigitte Mohn, Board Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, kicked off a one-of-a-kind, first-ever event to a great start: the “Young Leaders for Healthy Societies” conference.
Two up-and-coming, thriving, and committed next generation groups, the #WHOYouthCouncil2024, and the Young Leaders Conference, are gathering in Berlin to share and leverage their expertise and enthusiasm aimed at “advancing well-being, resilience, and trust” in health care. 60 representatives of over 20 countries from all corners of the world followed the invitation, ready to discuss, peer-to-peer, and shape their health vision for the future, a health system that is inclusive, equitable, accessible and universal.
The list of people who Brigitte M. acknowledged in her welcoming remarks was a long one: So many organizations, CSOs, health leaders both seasoned and budding, policy makers, and embassies contributed in a tireless effort across time zones, topics, diplomacy, to bring about this meeting, which is co-hosted by Bertelsmann Stiftung and the World Health Organization with support from the World Health Summit, about to begin on Sunday October 13.
Inspiring people, shaping the future, promoting the common good guided by the SDGs – these are principles that drive the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s work and commitment, which is exactly why we are proud and humbled to be hosting the three-day young health leaders meeting at our Berlin office ahead of the World Health Summit 2024.
In his video greeting address Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Executive Directors, thanked the organizers for this important initiative, that is pushing boundaries, working together toward a healthier, more inclusive, more resilient world. The reason for establishing the Youth Council, he explained, is to seek advice from youth mainstreaming their voice incorporating their input to WHO global management leadership meeting in December this year.
Axel Radlach Pries, president of the World Health summit, pointed out that this conference, in a complex and crisis riddled world, shows how to shift from despair to a hope and engagement approach, to change things for the better.
Gaudenz Silberschmidt, speaking on behalf of the Digital Transformations for Health Lab, has words of praise and encouragement for the conference participants: “You are a role model for the world in the area of health”, an example of how the world can be saved.
And Dr. Tobias Lindner, Minister of State, Federal Foreign Office, Germany, emphasized that Germany’s Global Health commitment is unwavering. He concluded with words of encouragement for the meeting: ”Your words counts, your ideas matter, your knowledge can make the difference, and don’t take 'no' for an answer”.
Photo Credits: Sebastian Pfütze
#WHOYouthCouncil #MyHealthFutures #Youth4HealthySocieties