LIVING ROOTS FOUNDATION
A Youth-Led Agenda for Meghalaya
Report of the Young People's Action Group (YPAG) 2025-2026 supported by UNICEF India
About the initiative
Building on Meghalaya's prioritisation of engagement with young people at the center of its development and climate agenda, the Young People's Action Group (YPAG) bridges the gap between young people's lived experiences and public decision making, ensuring that their perspectives inform state government policies and programmes. It is an initiative of UNICEF India and the Centre for Policy, and has institutional support from the Government of Meghalaya.
62%
youth surveyed* felt they are rarely consulted in policy making
138
young people engaged in consultations to shape the focus of the YPAG
105
workshop participants, primarily from climate-vulnerable blocks in four hubs across Meghalaya
Priorities identified by the YPAG's inaugural cohort
A cohort of 20 young members of the YPAG, selected through four regional workshops under the initiative, collaborated to identify four priority areas for stakeholder attention. These areas represent the collective perspectives of young people and highlight critical domains requiring sustained focus and action.
Access to healthcare during emergencies
Keep children in school
Recognise and respond to mental health impacts
Youth participation and community-led solutions
Stakeholder discussions are essential, because solutions emerge when we engage with all stakeholders. Equally important is the inclusion of youth in decision-making, since the choices we make today will directly shape their future
H.E Mr. Wailadmiki Shylla
Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs and Health & Family Welfare of the Government of Meghalaya, speaking at the YPAG’s inaugural roundtable in Shillong.
HIGHLIGHTS
Focus
The initiative recognises that climate change extends beyond environmental concerns, posing significant risks to healthcare systems, education, livelihoods, mental well-being, and access toessential public services. By placing young people at the center of these conversations, YPAG aims to foster innovative, locally relevant solutions while strengthening community resilience and promoting youth leadership.
Regional workshops in Meghalaya
YPAG was designed through a participatory process to ensure that its priorities reflect the realities experienced by young people across Meghalaya. Building on the pre-consultation engagements, four regional workshops were held across the state between May-June 2026, bringing together 105 participants which included participants from climate-vulnerable blocks within four regional hubs: Shillong, Nongpoh, Tura and Jowai.
YPAG's Inaugural Cohort
From the participants engaged through the regional workshops, an inaugural cohort of 20 young leaders were selected as members of the Young People's Action Group for a period of one year. Throughout their tenure, members will receive administrative support from the Government of Meghalaya and technical guidance and capacity-building from partners including UNICEF India, the Centre for Policy among others, enabling them to effectively engage with policymakers and communities in Meghalaya and beyond.
YPAG's Report
Over four district-level workshops, young people across Meghalaya consistently identified three interconnected areas where climate change is affecting their lives, their communities and their futures. These are drawn from lived experience, from journeys to school through flooded rivers, from families struggling after crop failures, from communities grieving losses that could have been prevented. To learn more, please access the YPAG report at the bottom of this page (coming soon).
During the summer months, students cannot concentrate on their studies because of the heat
A youth participant shared at a regional workshop for the Young People's Action Group in Meghalaya
Testimony
FROM THE YPAG REPORT
A youth participant at a UNICEF-supported workshop in Shillong, India shared:
"As much as climate change has an impact on [access to] education, education can have a reverse impact on climate change"
A youth group at a UNICEF-supported workshop in Tura, India shared:
"Climate change affects people emotionally and mentally. Farmers worry about their crops, their income, and their jobs. When crops fail, it leads to stress, anxiety, and even depression because so many families in our villages depend on agriculture"
Recommendations at a Glance
Insights from YPAG's Report
Priority 1: Ensuring Access to Healthcare During Emergencies
Young people repeatedly identified uninterrupted access to healthcare as one of the most urgent challenges posed by climate change. Across the workshops, participants described how floods, landslides, damaged roads and weak communication networks often prevent people from reaching health facilities when they need them most. These challenges were felt most acutely in remote communities,
where extreme weather can isolate villages for days and delay emergency care.
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Participants recognised that resilient health systems depend on reliable roads, functioning transport, communication infrastructure and strong community preparedness. They repeatedly highlighted the experiences of pregnant women, young children, older persons and people living in rural areas, emphasising that climate-related disruptions should never determine whether someone receives life-saving care.
Priority 2: Keeping Children in School
Young people described education as one of the first public services to be disrupted during climate-related events. Heavy rainfall, floods, landslides, damaged roads, power outages and extreme heat frequently interrupt learning, prevent students from reaching schools and affect their ability to concentrate and perform academically. Educational disruption extends beyond missed school days. Repeated
interruptions affect examinations, reduce learning outcomes and place additional pressures on families whose livelihoods are already affected by climate change.
Priority 3: Community-Led Solutions and Youth Participation
Across all workshops, young people expressed a strong desire to be part of the solution, not as passive recipients of programmes designed by others, but as active participants in shaping their communities' resilience. Participants repeatedly demonstrated that community-led solutions are both effective and empowering.
Priority 4: Recognising and Responding to Mental Health Impacts
Young people described mental health as the most overlooked impact of climate change. They spoke about farmers struggling with anxiety and depression after repeated crop failures, families grieving after displacement and loss, and young people feeling hopeless about the future. Participants observed that mental health impacts are often invisible and unaddressed, that disaster response prioritises physical needs while emotional recovery is neglected, and that stigma prevents people from seeking help, particularly in rural communities where mental health is rarely discussed openly.
About us
UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, everywhere, especially the most disadvantaged children and in the toughest places to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive, and fulfil their potential.
The Centre for Policy is a non-profit and independent think-and-do tank under the Living Roots Foundation based in Shillong, India. The Centre partners and collaborates with a broad range of stakeholders to drive impact through policy engagement, strategic advocacy, and partnerships focused on people, peace, and the planet.