By Eddah Waithaka
Health leaders, policymakers, and youth activists are uniting to confront Africa’s youth suicide crisis, launching a powerful new initiative that treats prevention as a fundamental social responsibility.
The Youth Suicide Prevention Forum, hosted by Aga Khan University’s Brain and Mind Institute in collaboration with the Science for Africa Foundation, directly challenges the stigma and silence that have hampered progress against one of the continent’s most urgent public health threats.
The forum leveraged Kenya’s landmark 2023 decriminalization of suicide as a critical foundation for action.
“When young people are silenced by stigma or denied access to affordable care, we all fail,” said Prof. Zul Merali, Founding Director of the Brain and Mind Institute.
“This forum creates safe spaces, amplifies youth voices, and builds actionable pathways that save lives. Suicide prevention must become everyone’s business.”
The initiative calls for a radical cross-sector approach that integrates suicide prevention into schools, workplaces, and faith communities.
Dr. Judy Omumbo of the Science for Africa Foundation emphasized that “suicide prevention is a profound moral and social responsibility,” touching every part of society.
Dr. Catherine Wanjiku from Kenya’s Ministry of Health detailed the government’s commitment through its Suicide Prevention Strategy, which expands community-based services and integrates mental health into national health plans.
Personal testimonies from youth with lived experience formed the emotional core of the forum, transforming statistics into human stories that highlighted both the devastating impact of stigma and the healing power of peer networks.
Their voices reinforced the forum’s central message: that breaking the silence can build a future where hope, not despair, defines Africa’s next generation.
