Youth Wellbeing in Action: Interventions Across Colombia, Mozambique, and Lebanon
How do community interventions - from programmes to behavioral nudges - impact youth well-being and create ripple effects across communities? What lessons can we learn from diverse cultural contexts about scaling wellbeing initiatives?
Join us! Featuring two speakers sharing evidence-based interventions from Colombia, Mozambique, and Lebanon. Discover how these approaches address mental health through physical activity, behavioral science, and community empowerment.
Why talk about youth in the Global South?
Over 85% of the world’s youth live in the Global South, where young people under 30 often make up more than half of the national population. This demographic powerhouse holds enormous potential for driving social progress, innovation, and sustainability. At the same time, youth in these regions face complex challenges - from unemployment and climate vulnerability to limited access to education, mental health support, and increased sedentary rates.
Behavioral science offers powerful tools to understand and influence human behavior in context-sensitive ways. By focusing on youth in the Global South, this event aims to bridge behavioral insights with lived realities - supporting youth-led solutions, amplifying underrepresented voices, and fostering more equitable, culturally grounded interventions. It’s a space to share research, spark collaboration, and co-create strategies for lasting impact.
Speakers
Dr. Daniel Oviedo (UCL, Colombia)
Project: "On the way to School"
Professor Daniel Oviedo is an Associate Professor in Urban Transport and Development Planning at the Development Planning Unit, University College London (UCL). He is a civil engineer with a master's in Transport Planning from Universidad de los Andes and a PhD in Development Planning from UCL. Oviedo's research focuses on urban transport, accessibility, equity, social exclusion, and wellbeing, particularly in rapidly growing cities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Daniel's research shows how encouraging children to walk to school boosts physical health, mental wellbeing, and community cohesion. His findings reveal how simple mobility interventions reduce stress and foster social connectedness, creating positive ripple effects that strengthen family relationships and build community networks.
Aya Haidar (Nudge Lebanon, Lebanon)
Projects: Household Wellbeing & Economic Empowerment
Aya Haidar is the Vice President and Executive Director at Nudge Lebanon, an organization focused on applying behavioral insights to public policy and social impact initiatives. She holds a degree from the American University of Beirut and has experience in behavioral insights and policy-making, with prior roles at both Nudge Lebanon and the B4Development Foundation. Aya presents findings from Lebanon on building household resilience during economic crises through behavioral interventions. Her "Behavioural Map" study with Nudge Lebanon and Save the Children identified psychological barriers limiting vocational training success. By implementing targeted behavioral nudges and mindset interventions, the program improved training completion rates and income generation while creating cascading wellbeing benefits across families and communities.