World One Health Day: Youth at the Heart of One Health
Today, 3 November, is World One Health Day. It’s a chance for us to present a piece of work we are proud of: the position paper “Youth at the Heart of One Health.” It was co-written by an international group of young people coordinated by the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), and the Young Ambassadors for the Environment took part. Here’s a look back at a journey that began in Lyon.
From Lyon to today: Young Ambassadors at the One Health Summit
On 6 and 7 April 2026, Lyon hosted the One Health Summit. At the IRD’s initiative, around a hundred young people from five continents gathered there to share a common conviction: human health, animal health and ecosystem health are inseparable, and young people must have their say.
The Young Ambassadors who attended in Lyon joined the group of authors coordinated by the IRD. Over several months, students, PhD candidates, doctors, veterinarians, volunteers and community activists pooled their perspectives and field experience. They came from Benin, Cameroon, Canada, France, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Togo and beyond.
Our work is published today, on World One Health Day. We are taking part again, at the invitation of Benoît Miribel. A fine way to come full circle… and to begin a new chapter.
What we say: five findings, five recommendations
Why is this urgent? Human activities threaten around one million species with extinction. They have profoundly altered 75% of land and 66% of the oceans. According to the World Health Organization, nearly a quarter of deaths worldwide are linked to preventable environmental factors. In response, the One Health approach has become the reference framework for major international institutions. It is used to prevent pandemics, fight antimicrobial resistance and improve food security.
And yet, half the world’s population is under 30, and young people remain largely absent from this approach. Our paper identifies five obstacles:
Insufficient education: One Health remains confined to a circle of experts. In France, primary and secondary school teachers still know little about it.
Siloed funding: in 2023, OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries spent 1.2% of their expenditure on environmental protection, compared with 19.4% on health. Yet prevention is far cheaper than cure.
Participation that is too often tokenistic: people under 30 make up only 3% of parliamentarians worldwide.
Institutions working in silos: human health, animal health and the environment each operate separately. Cooperation relies on goodwill rather than lasting structures.
A lack of visibility that fuels misinformation: in several countries, nearly one in three teenagers does not know that many human diseases come from animals.
Our recommendations come down to five verbs:
Educate: integrate One Health into curricula, from early childhood to PhD level, with active teaching methods and outdoor activities.
Fund: set aside dedicated “One Health – Youth” budgets, develop paid volunteering and support local initiatives.
Involve: create One Health youth councils with real powers, and reserve seats for young people in international bodies.
Break down silos: strengthen youth networks, mentoring, community “third places” and participatory research.
Inform: fight misinformation and make young people true ambassadors of the One Health approach.
In short: move from token participation to a real capacity to act, backed by real resources.
What’s next? Join “One Health for the Future”
A paper is a good start, but bringing it to life on the ground is even better. That is the whole point of our “One Health for the Future” programme, which puts these recommendations into practice in mainland France and the French overseas territories.
Because One Health is something you experience close to home: a river to restore, a mangrove to protect, a zoonosis to understand, pesticide exposure to document… In mainland France as in Réunion, Guadeloupe, French Guiana or New Caledonia, the links between the health of people, animals and their environments are plain to see.
Are you between 18 and 35? Do you want to take action for the environment? Join us! Together, let’s build projects, learn and make young people’s voices heard where decisions are made.
Join the programme via the “Become a Young Ambassador” (Devenir JA) page on jeunesambassadeurs.org, or write to us at ambassadeurspourlenvironnement@gmail.com.
Happy World One Health Day to all: one planet, one health, and a generation of young people determined to get involved!
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