Orygen was joined by youth mental health innovators from across Tanzania in Kahama earlier this year for the Being National Gathering for the promotion and prevention of wellbeing, a powerful day of knowledge exchange, collaboration, and reflection with the shared goal of helping the youth mental health crisis.
Organised by the women-youth led Kenyan mental health organisation, the Nivishe Foundation and Orygen Global, the event brought together diverse stakeholders, including youth representatives, funders, local leaders and Being Initiative grantees, known as ‘ecosystem actors’, whose work focuses on creating an enabling environment for youth mental health prevention and promotion at the national level.
The National Gathering gave Orygen a powerful opportunity to share and exchange expertise on youth mental health in an international setting, leading conversations to help shape a future where mental health is community-led, inclusive, and sustainably supported.
Nataya Branjerdporn, Projects and Partnerships Manager at Orygen Global, said the event exemplified the importance of regional approaches in responding to a global crisis.
“Through coalition-building, long-term thinking, and regionally adapted approaches, we are not just responding to today’s needs,” Nataya said. “We are laying the foundation for a resilient, stigma-free tomorrow.”
Nataya Branjerdporn, Projects and Partnerships Manager at Orygen Global
The program featured engaging tabletop presentations, a participatory ecosystem catalyst session, and a hands-on monitoring, evaluation and learning workshop facilitated by Grand Challenges Canada and Orygen. Each session highlighting promising innovations, systemic challenges, and the collective drive to build a stronger, youth-centred mental health ecosystem.
The event concluded with a strong call for action, emphasising several key learnings and recommendations, including disability-inclusive, stigma-reducing approaches and the use of creative tools such as storytelling and photovoice.
Key recommendations included establishing a national mental health innovators’ network, increasing measurement capacity, strengthening cross-innovation collaboration, and creating a shared mental health lexicon.
Nataya highlighted the event’s emphasis on co-creation and youth leadership, with attendees excited by the opportunity to network, share resources, and engage in open dialogue on sustainable solutions.
“This gathering underscored the power ecosystem-wide collaboration in transforming mental health outcomes,” she said.
“As we look ahead, these connections and insights offer a solid foundation for collective progress in advancing youth mental well-being in Tanzania and across the region.”
The Being Global Gathering was made possible with support from the Being Initiative Partners: Grand Challenges Canada, Fondation Botnar, The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Science for Africa Foundation, United for Global Mental Health and Orygen Global.