International declaration on youth mental health

October 14th, 2011

International declaration on youth mental health logo

On Friday, 14 October 2022 the Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Special Interest Group in Youth Mental Health, hosted a major national research conference in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. This research conference marked the launch of the International Declaration on Youth Mental Health.

We are excited that our very own Derek Chambers (Director of Programmes and Policy) presented at the event as always our wonderful volunteers helped plan the event and were there helping out on the day.

Read all the presentations from the day.

The vision of the International Declaration is that every young person with mental health problems gets the help they need when and where they need it. Inspire Ireland are delighted to have contributed to this declaration. The declaration highlights the importance of changing the way we think about youth mental health in keeping with innovative services like ReachOut.com

How did the declaration come about
The International Declaration on Youth Mental Health evolved from the Youth Mental Health Summit which took place in Killarney in 2010. The Summit provided a forum for 80 young people, family members, clinicians, researchers and policy makers to share practice innovation and research in the field of youth mental and to discuss and debate the content of this declaration.

What does the declaration mean
The International Declaration on Youth Mental Health articulates core principles and targets for youth mental health service provision. It aims to influence how people think about and respond to young people’s mental health needs. It will be used to leverage support for the development of timely and appropriate youth mental health services internationally. The Declaration sets out a range of measurable targets that can be achieved over a ten year period.

Inspire Ireland is very proud to be  involved in the development of such a visionary declaration and are pleased to be hosting the declaration online.

Read a summary of the declaration or full deceleration in pdf