Vision, Mission and Values
Being envisions a world where young people feel well and thrive.
We work with young people to improve their mental health and wellbeing through research, innovation and ecosystem building, with a focus on prevention and promotion in 12 priority countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
Young people are at the core of our work. We aim to engage with them as partners in a collaborative, rights-based, participatory, and inclusive way and centre their voices and needs in everything we do.
Youth Mental Health Facts
- One in seven adolescents worldwide faces mental health conditions.
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds.
- In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), up to 90% of young people’s mental health needs are unmet due to a lack of resources.
- Despite the growing need, national health budgets globally only allocate 2% to mental health.
- Only 2.4% of mental health research funding is spent on LMICs and only 7% is spent on prevention and treatment research.
- Young people facing mental health challenges are vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma, and physical health problems.
It’s crucial to prioritize and invest in young people’s mental health and address their mental health challenges to ensure their wellbeing in adolescence and adulthood. That’s why we created Being —We want to respond to the early drivers of young people’s mental health and influence change in programming, research and policies related to young people’s mental wellbeing.
Who We Are
Being’s team is hosted at Grand Challenges Canada (GCC). Learn more about the GCC staff and leadership part of Being’s team.
Our team also includes our partners dedicated to this initiative: Fondation Botnar, The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Orygen, the Science for Africa Foundation, and United for Global Mental Health.
Along with our partners, the initiative is also informed by a Council and Youth and Lived Experience Advisors.
Did you know? We’re actively looking for new funding partners to help us address the mental health challenges of young people worldwide!
