The SNF Global Center Establishes Its Youth Council in South Africa

Young leaders are driving systematic change in child and adolescent mental health care

New York, NY – The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Global Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the Child Mind Institute, is pleased to announce the creation of the SNF Global Center Youth Council in South Africa – a body of dedicated young leaders from seven different South African provinces. Members will meaningfully contribute to the design, implementation, and long-term impact of the organization’s work across the country.

The Youth Council was formed within the SNF Global Centre at the Child Mind Institute’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative in South Africa (CAMHI South Africa). The SNF Global Center is supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI). In partnership with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), local universities, experts, civil society organizations, and local communities, the objective of CAMHI South Africa is to support the mental wellbeing of young people by expanding access to effective mental health services and resources. Partnering with youth, building the capacity of professionals and community-based workers, and promoting innovative, culturally responsive solutions is another priority.

Covering provinces including Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Mpumalanga, the SNF Global Center Youth Council in South Africa, balances representation across South Africa’s diverse communities, ensuring mental health initiatives address the full tapestry of young people’s experiences. Each member – all between the ages of 18 to 24 brings a compelling record of community action. Members have founded mental health-focused nonprofits, led powerful local podcasts and community radio stations, and actively contributed to the efforts of the SNF Global Center’s partner organizations.

“The power of young people lies in our diversity — different stories and cultures, one shared mission to create better communities. Using our voices to shape the systems we’ll inherit,” says Delice Lumbu, a member from Western Cape.

The Youth Council will participate in the development and design of localized engagement strategies, planning for the upcoming Expert Gathering in Cape Town (November 24 – 25, 2025), and cross-initiative collaboration through feedback and implementation insights to ensure programmatic interventions meet the real needs of young people.

To further support the ongoing availability of resources and reliable information about child and adolescent mental health, a new CAMHI South Africa website has been launched to serve as a sustainable hub for science-based resources, tools, reliable information, and to strengthen engagement with local partners and community members.

In April 2025, an SNF Global Center Youth Council in Brazil was also established, through a partnership with the Instituto de Estudos para Políticas em Saúde (IEPS), as part of the Brazil chapter of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health initiative (CAMHI Brazil). Its experiences have inspired and shaped how the co-construction of the council journey with the youth in South Africa is developing.

“Being part of the Youth Council for South Africa at the SNF Global Center at the Child Mind Institute means a great deal to me. It reflects my commitment to keeping the conversation around mental health alive and ensuring that young people’s voices remain at the center of it,” said Sikelela Rollom, who is also an SNF Global Center Junior Communicator Fellow.

Jason Bantjes, professor at SAMRC the SNF Global Center’s scientific lead in South Africa, highlighted the transformative potential of the Youth Council under the organization’s CAMHI SA work, while also emphasizing there is no health without mental health.

“The Youth Council in South Africa, demonstrates the power of meaningfully engaging with young people,” said Bantjes. “When we position youth as decision-makers – solutions become more culturally anchored, relevant, and scalable. Their insights are essential to driving systematic change in child and adolescent mental health both in South Africa, and beyond.”

The Youth Council meets twice a month. Initial priorities include leadership development, dismantling barriers to mental health care (such as stigma), and designing solutions that aim to precisely target community-specific challenges. Their work also includes campaign design; communications content and providing ongoing feedback.

“Being part of the Youth Council means turning my experiences into purpose and helping young people feel seen,” said Yollande Chikudju, a member from Gauteng.

The South Africa Youth Council builds on the SNF Global Center’s youth engagement model, which is aimed at developing and nurturing a global community of youth leaders equipped to drive better outcomes. By building the capacity of young people and centering mental health care issues relevant to members’ communities, the Youth Council is better positioned to effectively champion sustainable transformation.

The youth engagement model is inspired by the Youth Engagement Scheme (YES), launched by the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) in Greece in 2022. YES includes the creation of five Youth Advisory Groups in Athens, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupolis, Ioannina, and Heraklion. Through regular meetings with experienced facilitators and coordinators, children and adolescents share their perspectives and work together to turn ideas into actionable projects in schools and other relevant settings.

CAMHI Greece is exclusively supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) as part of its Global Health Initiative (GHI).

About the SNF Global Center at the Child Mind Institute

The SNF Global Center brings together the Child Mind Institute’s expertise as a leading independent nonprofit in children’s mental health and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)’s deep commitment to supporting collaborative projects to improve access to quality health care worldwide. The center is building partnerships to drive advances in under-researched areas of children and adolescents’ mental health, and expand access to culturally appropriate training, resources, and treatment in low- and middle-income countries. This work is conducted by the Child Mind Institute with support from SNF through its Global Health Initiative (GHI).

About the Child Mind Institute

The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders by giving them the help they need. We’ve become the leading independent nonprofit in children’s mental health by providing gold-standard, evidence-based care, delivering educational resources to millions of families each year, training educators in underserved communities, and developing tomorrow’s breakthrough treatments.