Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often described as a “silent pandemic”, but its impact is loudest in the places with the fewest resources. For communities already facing fragile health systems, climate shocks, food insecurity and pollution, rising drug resistance threatens to push basic care out of reach.
Young people, particularly in the Global South, live at the intersection of these crises. They are often the first to face the consequences of failing antibiotics, but the last to be invited into decision-making spaces. To help change this, the Quadripartite, comprising the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), established the Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR in 2023. The group brings together 14 representatives from youth-led and youth-serving organisations, spanning human, animal, plant and environmental health, to make youth engagement a core pillar of the global AMR response rather than a symbolic add-on.
Two years on, what have we learned, and what still needs to change?
Early in its mandate, the working group convened a global online consultation with more than 90 youth leaders from all regions to co-create the Youth Manifesto for the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on AMR. The manifesto calls for:
formal youth platforms on AMR at national and regional levels,
seats for young people in high-level forums such as United Nations General Assembly meetings and ministerial conferences on AMR, and
resources for youth-led initiatives across One Health sectors.
It emphasises priorities that are particularly urgent for youth: integrating AMR into school and university curricula; investing in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and vaccination in communities; protecting access to effective antimicrobials for human and animal health; and supporting youth-driven innovation and advocacy.
These demands did not stay on paper. Youth representatives from the working group carried them into the 2024 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR and the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In Jeddah, members of the working group co-led an interactive session, presented key youth messages and milestones, and received the “AMR One Health Emerging Leaders & Outstanding Talents Award” alongside partners such as the WHO AMR Survivors Taskforce. The working group also had opportunities to present their perspectives at specific sessions during the World Health Assembly.
Another objective of the working group has been to move beyond high-level statements and strengthen awareness and capacity where it matters most: communities, schools and professional training.
This has been done through the promotion of Quadripartite Antimicrobial Resistance Toolkit for Youth Engagement, launched in December 2024. A document that includes 11 tools — templates, worksheets and case studies — to help youth networks design campaigns, training sessions and advocacy initiatives. As well as creating the storybook “Oh no! Leslie got Malaria!”, an illustrated material for children that introduces malaria, its treatment and AMR through the journey of a young girl, her family and their doctor.
Another milestone was achieved during World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) 2023 and 2024, where youth members created a global database of youth-led AMR events (as well as participating in several of them), a space that brought together activities from around the world and kept them accessible to young people everywhere.
In 2024, the working group also organised “Your Voice, Your Impact: A Global Youth Consultation on AMR”, a virtual event held during WAAW under the theme “Educate. Advocate. Act now”. Bringing together over 80 participants from across regions, the Consultation updated young people on recent milestones and used interactive breakout discussions to co-design priorities on AMR education and youth-led advocacy.
Another pillar of the working group’s mandate is knowledge generation and identifying best practices to engage more young people in the global AMR response. Based on the working group’s experience so far, members have authored an evidence-based call-to-action on youth and AMR, accepted for publication in Nature Communications as “Youth as change makers on antimicrobial resistance: an evidence-based call-to-action”. Drawing on data and lived experiences from multiple youth networks and the Youth Manifesto on AMR, the article argues that supporting youth-led action is not an act of charity but a strategic investment in effective, sustainable public health policy.
The next step is translating this momentum into policy. During WAAW 2025, the working group will launch the policy brief Mobilizing Youth Leadership in Action on Antimicrobial Resistance, which sets out practical recommendations for governments, multilateral organizations and funders on embedding meaningful youth participation throughout national action plans on AMR and related One Health strategies.
As the initial two-year term 2023-2025 concludes, a renewed mandate is beginning in November 2025. Eight new members are joining the working group, maintaining gender, geographical and sectoral balance. This continuity matters: it signals that youth engagement in AMR is not a short-term campaign, but a structural component of the AMR global response. However, the working group will be truly successful only when similar youth engagement mechanisms take root at the regional, national, and sub-national levels.
Pablo Estrella Porter is Chair, Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for Antimicrobial Resistance
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth