Breaking the silence: Zimbabwean youth leader calls for urgent investment in mental health

Breaking the silence: Zimbabwean youth leader calls for urgent investment in mental health

The tragedy exposed a stark reality: Many young people facing mental health challenges had nowhere to turn for support.

“I saw the gap. I saw the need” she recalled. “As a young person, I realised that we needed youth-driven solutions for youth mental health challenges.”

Today, the 26-year-old PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge leads the Ndinewe Foundation, a Zimbabwean organization that provides young people with locally and culturally relevant mental health resources, peer support and education. 

Ndinewe translates to I am with you, in English.

“Our main goal is to ensure that young people have the resources and the tools they need to not only support themselves, but to support other people as well, and to ensure that these tools and resources are locally and culturally relevant” she said.

For example, through community initiatives, including the sport and mental health intiative, the foundation’s main focus is to integrate mental health education into sporting activities for children and young people.

From local to global 

On Friday, Chikaura will join 14 other UN Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals at UN Headquarters for One World, One Game, One Goal, a youth-focused event held ahead of the FIFA final matches that will spotlight the role of sport in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

The gathering will also launch a new youth mental health campaign aimed at encouraging young people around the world to speak openly about mental health, seek support when they need it and look out for one another.

For Chikaura, whose own work combines sport with mental health education, the campaign reflects the same belief that has guided her advocacy from the beginning: that young people themselves must be at the centre of designing solutions.

A growing crisis

The need is urgent. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29, with most deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Chikaura noted that Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, making investment in youth mental health especially critical.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done” she said. “Not only to raise mental health awareness, but to ensure that young people have the tools and the resources they need to thrive and live meaningful lives.”

Her academic research also focuses on one of the least understood aspects of mental health: suicide prevention among autistic people. 

She said autistic individuals face a significantly higher risk of suicide than non-autistic people, yet tailored support remains limited.

Giving young people a voice

As one of the UN’s Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals, Chikaura hopes to bring the experiences of young people in Zimbabwe to international decision-makers while advocating for greater investment in mental health.

She warned that mental health continues to receive less than two per cent of many national health budgets despite the scale of the need.

“Youth mental health has been neglected for far too long” she said. “That cannot continue.”

Her goal, she added, is to ensure that every community has access to culturally relevant mental health support so that no young person is prevented from reaching their potential because of mental health challenges.

“It is my hope that young people are able to live and thrive and be the best versions of themselves.”