Article
Request for Proposals: Youth Consultation for Mental health Outlook for South Asia
UNESCO is inviting submissions for conducting a Youth Consultation for Mental health Outlook for South Asia (India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives) in accordance with the present solicitation document.
Background:
South Asia is home to states classified as most vulnerable to climate crises across the globe. More than 750 million people across the region are affected by climate disasters. The region regularly witnesses cord breaking temperatures, cyclones, food and water insecurity and increasingly polluted natural resources. Between 1990 and 2008, over 750 million people in South Asia were affected by at least one natural disaster, resulting in almost 230,000 deaths.
The climate crisis is projected to have an enormous adversarial impact on mental health. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed that rapidly increasing climate change poses a rising threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being, from emotional distress to anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behavior.
Existing literature on youth mental health from a psychosocial perspective highlights risk factors, protective factors and socio-cultural factors shaping youth mental health. While research has been conducted on the impact of COVID-19 on youth, additional robust research and data is needed to explore its longer-term consequences, as a critical foundation to strengthen support for youth health and for evidence-based policy decisions. In addition, significant research has been conducted mainly in Western contexts, with a lack of understanding of the perspectives and experiences of youth facing crises in developing countries and in low-and-middle income regions including countries such as in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
Project Overview and Objectives in South Asia:
The premise of this project is to qualify if the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing effects truly signaled a turning point for the mental health of young people. The South Asia leg of this initiative will furnish the overarching global project with insights from young people from the region. Young people who have experienced crisis, across marginalisations, will be engaged through a consultation to voice their inputs about the causes for the issues of youth mental health and possible recommendations for policymakers for the same.
This project will incorporate inputs from youth climate activists/ leaders from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Through a consultative process, young leaders who have worked on climate crises, and/or those who have lived experiences of accessing mental health services in times of crisis will come together to chart the lacunae of mental health policy structures in South Asia, reflect on the specific needs, convergences and divergences within the region and ideate on a set of actionable recommendations for the same. This in-person consultation will allow for an intersectional and nuanced discussion on a topic which has hitherto not been fully examined. This methodology will also allow for the free flowing disucssion on a climate crises and mental health.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The Vendor will work with UNESCO to scope and selection of participants for a sub-regional consultation. They will provide logistical support for sub-regional consultation and provide documentation and reporting on the same.
UNESCO will be responsible for providing overall guidance and resources created for the global project. UNESCO will also provide feedback for the participant list, report and its recommendations.
The bid must be submitted electronically, should reach the following dedicated e-mail address no later than 11:59 p.m. (India Standard Time – IST) on 19 January 2024 at procurement.NDL@unesco.org without any copy to any other e-mail addresses. Offers addressed at any other e-mail accounts will be disqualified.
