Shaping Healthier Futures: Join the UI-RF 2026 Stakeholders’ Forum on Adolescents’ and Youths’ Health
How can scientific discoveries become practical solutions that improve young people’s lives? How can researchers, policymakers, communities and young people work together to turn evidence into lasting change? These questions will guide the University of Ibadan Research Foundation’s 2026 Stakeholders’ Forum, taking place on Monday, 9 November 2026, at Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. The theme is “Advancing Adolescents’ and Youths’ Health in Africa with advances in Science, Innovation and Co-Created Policy Options.” The forum will bring together diverse perspectives to explore how research and innovation can inform policies and interventions that respond to young people’s needs.
Connecting evidence with action
Since its inception in 2023, the annual Stakeholders’ Forum has provided a platform for policymakers, research leaders, development partners, civil society organisations, educators, parents and young people to identify practical pathways towards better adolescent and youth health. The 2026 edition will build on this dialogue, examining how advances in science, implementation research and digital technologies can support effective interventions. Discussions will focus on mental health, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and physical activity—connected priorities that shape young people’s wellbeing and development. Central to the forum is the idea of co-created policy: bringing scientific expertise together with the experience of communities and young people to develop responses that are relevant, practical and sustainable.
Why this conversation matters
Research has greater value when it informs decisions and improves lives. The forum creates space to consider how evidence can move beyond publications into services, programmes and policies. For researchers, it offers an opportunity to connect findings with policy and implementation needs. For policymakers and development partners, it provides a setting to explore evidence-informed priorities and opportunities for collaboration. For educators, parents, civil society organisations and young people, it creates an opportunity to contribute perspectives that help shape meaningful action. The forum will also showcase lessons emerging from the ARISE Africa Think Tank on Adolescents and Youth Health, co-hosted by the UI-Research Foundation and the Africa Academy of Public Health, Tanzania. Convened as part of the Policy Imperatives Working Group activities of the ARISE Network’s ARISE-NUTRINT and DASH initiatives, the event reinforces the importance of collaboration in achieving measurable and sustainable improvements in young people’s health.
Join us in Ibadan
We invite stakeholders committed to adolescents’ and youths’ health to join this important conversation. Your knowledge, experience and ideas can help shape approaches that support healthier futures across Africa.
- Date: Monday, 9 November 2026
- Time: 1:00 p.m. prompt
- Arrival and registration: from 12:30 p.m.
- Venue: Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Join the conversation. Help shape healthier futures for Africa’s adolescents and young people.