Between Rhetoric and Reality: Learnings From Youth Participation in the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa

Supporting Youth Participation in Health and Climate Justice Through Advocacy Training Comment on "Between Rhetoric and Reality: Learnings From Youth Participation in the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa"

This paper responds to lessons from the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy (AYHP) process in South Africa by drawing comparisons with youth participation within the climate justice movement. Relationship building is essential to successful youth participation in health policy and climate change as it creates intergenerational learning and cross-cultural engagement. At the same time, both sets of youth also deal with compounding challenges due to contemporary and historical legacies of colonialism and inequality. Yet, tokenism challenges the participatory process as adults profess to value youth perspectives, yet recommendations by youth often do not get incorporated into policies or plans. For organizations and agencies trying to build youth's capacity, organizations and agencies should look to programs that train youth in advocacy. These programs help build youth's confidence, increase their optimism for change, and give youth a sense of ownership.

Advancing Youth Participation to Inform Equitable Health Policy Comment on "Between Rhetoric and Reality: Learnings From Youth Participation in the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa"

In their published study, Jacobs and George examine how youth participation was enabled to advance the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy (AYHP) in South Africa. Using an expanded and adapted conceptual framework of youth participation to inform their work, their findings center on the complexities of youth participation including enablers and the challenges experienced in the South African context. Building upon their foundational work, in this commentary we suggest further insights for consideration to advance youth participation to inform equitable health policies, including the inclusion of youth with intersecting identities and critical reflection to further advance the adapted conceptual framework.

For Sake of Youth and for Sake of Policies and Programmes. Why Youth Participation is a Right, a Requirement and a Value Comment on "Between Rhetoric and Reality: Learnings From Youth Participation in the Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in South Africa"

This commentary discusses an article by Jacobs and George which investigated how youth participation can be an important component of health policy-making by conducting a case study based on qualitative interviews. We appreciate the methodology and the main findings of the study, which contribute to advancing our understanding of the challenges and opportunities of youth participation in health policy-making. We note that this article raises several questions and issues that we must address to advance research and practice: (i) is there is a substantial gap between rhetoric and reality in terms of youth participation? (ii) do youth policies have a direct impact on youth participation? (iii) can we define and operationalise meaningful engagement? (iv) who is included and who is excluded in youth participation projects? and (v) is youth participation a right, a requirement and a value?