The $3 million fund announced at the AVPN Global Conference 2023 is the first philanthropic pooled fund that focuses on youth mental wellbeing across Southeast Asia and South Asia, with AVPN being supported by Yayasan Hasanah, the foundation of Khazanah Nasional and the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund to catalyse private sector support towards this important cause in Malaysia.

Stakeholders launch the Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund during the AVPN Global Conference 2023. Photo courtesy of AVPN.

Hannah Yeoh, Malaysia’s Minister of Youth and Sport highlighted the importance of mental health in Asia, noting that ‘It is crucial that we take action to address the mental health crisis our youths face, and help them overcome challenges in their developmental years. I am thrilled to witness AVPN launching this greatly needed Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund with local and regional funders to address these challenges across Asia, including Malaysia’.

Mental health is the second biggest contributor to years of healthy life lost in Asia, highlighting the pressing need to tackle mental wellbeing challenges among the youth demographic in Asia, and leading to the creation of the Asian Youth Wellbeing Fund which will attempt to combat the systemic issues, lack of accurate data and monitoring, and funding disparities that all contribute to the current youth mental wellbeing challenges.

Over the next three years, AVPN intends to raise $3 million to achieve the Fund’s objectives of supporting and fostering scalable and effective solutions formulated by credible and robust non-profit organisations; uniting a community of funders that bring scale and sustainability to a common portfolio and; reducing barriers faced by youths in achieving mental wellbeing.

Through AVPN’s experience of building trust-based philanthropy models in Asia, the organisation is planning to provide unrestricted funding to non-profit organisations, building trust between funders and grantees as well as giving grantees a stronger voice and empowering them to have the autonomy to grow and innovate around their needs.

‘Youth mental wellbeing is a complex, multigenerational challenge and it is a pressing need across our region. It is important that we take a collaborative approach in tackling this issue. The AVPN Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund will not only unite a community of funders towards this common goal, but will also bring together diverse experts who can share best practices and ensure the right resources are being efficiently deployed to selected non-profit organisations’ said Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO, AVPN.

The call for applications for the AVPN Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund will open in September 2023.

More information about the Fund is available at avpn.asia.

Simon Hungin is a freelance writer that supports Alliance magazine.