Tomorrow's Future, Today's Youth

How do you help the world's 1.77 billion young people ages 10 to 24 secure their health and well-being? More than 650 experts and students from 37 countries gathered in Abuja, Nigeria, in late April to exchange research and programmatic solutions to this and other pressing developmental questions. Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, in partnership with Nigeria's University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University and more than 40 other international and national organizations, "Investing in Young People's Health and Development: Research that Improves Policies and Programs" served as a forum for researchers and practitioners to share evidence and ideas for meeting the health and developmental needs of young people in low-resource settings.

"Youth will deliver our global future," says Amy Tsui, PhD, director of the Gates Institute at the Bloomberg School. What's needed, she says, is well-researched, peer-reviewed evidence about what influences their welfare in the short and long term. "This conference benefited from a unique commitment of researchers, educators, policymakers, practitioners and donors," notes Tsui. "All are working to ensure that science, practice and the youth themselves work hand in hand to secure the best possible future."