Building the Future Together: JSI’s Continued Commitment to Youth this World Population Day

Youth engaging in a skills-building session in Ghana through JSI’s World Education programming. Credit: JSI

Today’s World Population Day, devoted to “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world,” calls for ensuring that youth have the freedom, tools, and opportunities to shape their own futures. JSI’s work is rooted in the spirit of World Population Day: we believe all people should have what they need to live their healthiest lives and reach their full potential.

JSI Expands Health to Populations Worldwide

Promoting Healthy Families: JSI optimizes reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) delivery models across the life cycle and elevates the quality of care across primary health systems ensuring it is person-centered, accessible, and responsive to the needs of those most often left behind, including adolescents and youth. Our work in RMNCH is grounded in helping individuals make informed decisions about their families. For example, JSI has been involved in increasing the availability of family planning services in Egypt, utilizing peer education and task sharing to expand access. In Ethiopia, JSI is expanding self-administered contraception as an option for women of all ages in rural areas. In Northern Uganda, JSI has focused on increasing the effective use of sustainable health services, including services for adolescents. These initiatives directly support the ability of young people and communities to access the care they need to plan their families.

Ensuring Product Availability: JSI strives to ensure the health and well-being of people globally through enhanced access to medicines and health products at scale, touching every point of the end-to-end supply chain. Our partnership with UNFPA led to a 40% reduction in regional family planning commodity stockouts across the Pacific Islands. These efforts have resulted in a greater number of individuals, including young people, accessing products of their choosing that enable them to make the family planning choices they desire.

Education and Youth Development: JSI collaborates across sectors to shape young people’s futures and families. Through integrated youth development programs, like the U.S. Government-funded SABER project for example, which enabled 8,000 girls to transition into formal education and 9,500 to receive vocational and life skills training, we equip adolescents with work readiness, financial literacy, and life skills, enabling them to pursue entrepreneurship or employment in growing sectors. This economic resilience, coupled with linkages to health and social services, allows young people to make informed decisions about their lives and families. Our additional focus on non-formal education reaches youth with accelerated learning, vocational training, and income-generating activities, fostering self-sufficiency. For instance, in Ethiopia, we’ve created youth enterprises to bring health information technicians into the health sector after college. By strengthening education systems and promoting digital inclusion, JSI provides access to opportunities, ensuring that young individuals, especially girls and those facing systemic barriers, have the skills and agency to create stable, prosperous families and contribute to their communities.

When young people have the tools, information, and support to shape their futures, entire communities thrive. On this World Population Day, and every day, we remain committed to ensuring that every young person—regardless of where they live—can access the health services, education, and opportunities they need to build the lives and families they envision. By investing in youth, we’re investing in a more prosperous future for all.