India accounts for about one-third of all global suicide deaths, despite having only 18% of the world’s population (India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, 2018). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide is the leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29 years in India, with an estimated 4–20 attempts for every death. In India, youth suicides stem from multiple factors, including family conflict, academic pressure, breakdown of intimate relationships, unemployment, violence, identity-based discrimination, and broader socio-economic stressors (Vijaykumar et al.)
The WHO recommends multi-sectoral policy interventions to address the systemic causes of suicide—across health, education, law enforcement, employment, and social welfare. It also emphasises the need to involve people with lived experience, including young people, in shaping and implementing suicide prevention policies. Their participation makes these efforts more relevant, acceptable, and effective.
Outlive’s Role in Building Youth Leadership in Suicide Prevention and Policy Engagement
Outlive is a youth suicide prevention program led by the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, Indian Law Society, Pune (CMHLP, ILS). Launched in the year 2020, Outlive addresses urban youth suicides in India by engaging youth (aged 18–24) with experiences of suicide/self-harm, distress or mental health problems.
Outlive’s objective is clear — to increase awareness, expand access to youth-centric peer support, and drive systemic change to prevent youth suicides. To address this specific gap, Outlive designed the Youth Advocacy for Suicide Prevention (YASP) Fellowship: a capacity-building and mentoring initiative that equips youth leaders (aged 18–24) to view youth suicide as a governance issue and drive systemic change within their communities by developing policy solutions and engaging with policymakers.
It’s crucial to ensure that people with lived experience including young people are actively involved in designing and implementing suicide prevention policies. Their participation helps make suicide prevention efforts more relevant, acceptable, and effective for those directly impacted. Young people bring unique perspectives on how policy decisions at the local, national, or global level can shape their lives within their specific contexts.
However, historically, policy processes in countries like India have been driven through top-down approaches that engage only technical ‘experts’, leaving ordinary citizens out of meaningful participation. Young people, in particular, lack access to the opportunities, knowledge, and skills needed to engage with policymakers and drive interventions on issues influencing youth suicides in their communities.
Yet in India, policymaking has traditionally followed a top-down approach, led mainly by technical experts, with limited opportunities for ordinary citizens, particularly young people with lived experience, to actively participate in these processes.
One pathway to address these gaps is to develop capacity-building programs that help youth conceptualise suicide as an inter-sectoral policy issue, strengthen their ability to lead systemic change, and engage with policymakers to facilitate real policy interventions. Youth-led policy engagement not only ensures that young voices are represented and acted on within policy processes but also raises awareness of suicide prevention among peers and communities.
Scaling Impact to Tier-2 Cities
The YASP Fellowship began in Pune, Delhi and, Mumbai with its first cohort in 2023-2024. With its second cohort (2024–2025), the YASP Fellowship expanded to tier-2 cities such as Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Srinagar, and Gangtok, where young people in distress often lack access to suicide prevention resources and support.
The Cohort 2 Fellows belong to diverse and underrepresented backgrounds such as individuals from gender and sexual minorities, low-income groups, Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi communities, and youth with lived experience of mental health problems. During the program, the Fellows collectively:
- engaged over 600 stakeholders in their communities
- proposed 9 Policy solutions on various issues impacting youth suicides
- engaged with 10 policy makers across various government departments, including higher education, social welfare, and health
Fellows in Action: Policy Interventions by YASP Fellows
The YASP Fellows turned community needs into real policy solutions to address the root causes of youth suicide. For example, the Fellows focused on:
- Discrimination and Exclusion in Higher Educational Institutions: Biroj Kumar Singh from Bhubaneswar and Manisha Verma from Jaipur, proposed enforcement of mental health services on campus and the establishment of SC/ST Cells in higher educational institutions to support youth from Dalit and Adivasi communities. Manan from Raipur, also submitted an application to the Director of Higher Education, Government of Chhattisgarh, calling for better implementation of campus mental health services as per UGC guidelines on student well-being.
- Support for Transgender Persons: Aijaz Ahmad Wani from Srinagar, suggested recommendations for enhancing mental health support and grievance redressal mechanisms for the transgender community, in accordance with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
- Gender-Based Violence & Suicide Prevention: Aishwarya Sahu from Raipur, called for including counselling in local health centres to address suicides linked to domestic violence. Siya Deep from Raipur championed the implementation of the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008, to improve security and welfare for domestic workers.
- Integrating Mental Health into HIV/AIDS Care: Rahul Kumawat from Jaipur, advocated for integrating mental health and psychosocial support within HIV/AIDS programs and training counsellors to provide mental health support to youth living with HIV/AIDS.
- Integrating Life Skills and Mental Health Training in Higher Education: Yashu and Aranck from Gangtok, worked with policymakers—including the Secretaries of School and Higher Education and representatives from the Sikkim INSPIRES program—to advocate for life-skills education and gatekeeper training for teachers as key interventions to prevent youth suicides and strengthen mental health support in schools.
Shaping Policy Through Youth Leadership
Outlive’s YASP Fellowship is a powerful example of how youth-led participation can drive real change in suicide prevention. By placing young people at the heart of policy conversations, the fellowship shows what’s possible when their experiences, ideas, and leadership are taken seriously. Through this platform, YASP Fellows are building the skills, knowledge, and confidence to influence systems that shape their lives. Their work goes beyond individual impact, they’re fostering collaboration between communities, peers, and policymakers to create environments that prioritise youth mental health and suicide prevention. Together, they’re laying the foundation for a sustained movement rooted in learning, dialogue, and collective action for suicide prevention.
Along the way, Fellows found meaning in the process itself: “The case scenarios from the ground level were very relatable. I loved learning through activities and games the most.” Another shared, “The workshop was very good. I learned a lot here. The materials were very good, and I’m going back with the learning that I’m capable of doing something for the youth in my community.” For many, the experience reshaped how they approached complex systems: “The workshop was excellent. What initially seems difficult becomes manageable when explained well. It felt similar to what we study in school or college, but unlike school, where I might get scolded, this workshop was different.” Together, the Fellows reached over 600 stakeholders, strengthened their policy engagement skills, and proved that lasting change begins with small, focused actions.
Overall, the Fellows shared that the program helped them improve their skills of public speaking, presenting evidence to authorities, and professional communication. As one fellow noted: “I learned that tackling big issues is not about rushing. It is about taking small, focused actions”.
Read the Full Report: Outlive’s YASP Fellowship Cohort 2 (2024–25)
The YASP Fellowship shows how meaningful youth involvement in policy can drive transformative change.
To learn more about the program, the journeys of all the Fellows and their specific policy engagements, download the complete report.
Sources:
- India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Suicide Collaborators (2018). Gender differentials and state variations in suicide deaths in India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2016. The Lancet. Public health, 3(10), e478–e489. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468- 2667(18)30138-5
- World Health Organization, Suicide. [Internet]. Last accessed on 23 Jan 2025. Available from: https:// www.who.int/india/health-topics/ suicide
- Vijaykumar, L et al., Suicide in developing countries (3): prevention efforts, Crisis. 2005;26(3):120-124
- India’s youth face a high suicide burden driven by social and economic stressors.
- WHO stresses multi-sectoral policy with meaningful youth participation.
- YASP Fellowship empowers young people to lead policy change in suicide prevention.
- Cohort 2 expanded to tier-2 cities and engaged 600+ stakeholders.
- Fellows proposed 9 policy solutions and worked with policymakers on real interventions.
