By: Jennifer Aufill

On Wednesday, Dr. Wen was a keynote speaker at the World Bank Youth Forum 2016, highlighting the ways that Baltimore is working to improve health and development by combatting poverty, violence, and inequality. Dr. Wen joined a coalition of NGOs, CSOs, World Bank and government officials, and young people to discuss ways for the World Bank and other agencies to work to build sustained peace and development.

The World Bank Youth Forum gathers partners and representatives from both the public and private sectors to openly discuss the major challenges facing young people today. The event was a part of a World Bank-led Global Partnership for Youth and Development to learn new ways to support the transition of young people to adulthood and engage young people in international efforts to achieve sustainable economic development.

Dr. Wen discussed how the issues we face in Baltimore everyday are similar to those in communities across the country and across the world. In Baltimore, we have found success in reducing crime, drugs, and violence through a public health approach of addressing the upstream causes of problems and going to where the people are. Data shows that up to 90 percent of health is determined outside of the hospital by social determinants like education and jobs.

“Violence, harm reduction, drug abuse, gang membership, and the concerns of young people—these are all interconnected,” Dr. Wen said. A true public health approach requires us to look further. A true public health approach requires us to look further upstream, at how the inequalities we see in our neighborhoods could have been prevented in the first place.

Engaging young people in the international dialogue of development is crucial for ensuring future generations of young change agents. In the context of climate change, technological advances, and migration, young people are more active than ever in including their voices and ideas on the global stage.

“In our work, we can never say a problem is too complicated,” Dr. Wen added. “Our youth have a critical role to play in speaking up, in calling out injustices, and in making a difference.”