AVPN Announces USD 3 Million Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund

Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund – AVPN, Asia’s biggest network of ethical investors, announced today at the AVPN Global Conference 2023 the establishment of a USD 3 million Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is Southeast Asia and South Asia’s first philanthropic pooling fund focusing on juvenile mental health. Yayasan Hasanah, the foundation of Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, will assist AVPN in catalysing private sector support for this critical cause in Malaysia. Chevron and other organisations have also given their assistance to the Fund.

Malaysia’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Hannah Yeoh, launched the Fund at the AVPN Global Conference 2023, emphasising the importance of mental health in Asia, saying, “It is critical that we take action to address the mental health crisis our youths face, and help them overcome challenges in their developmental years.” I am overjoyed to see AVPN create the much-needed Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund with local and regional funders to address these issues throughout Asia, including Malaysia.

Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund

Unlike traditional programmes, the AVPN Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Fund would place youngsters at the centre of grant disbursement decision-making. Adopting a ‘for youths, by youths’ approach, the Fund will assemble a committee of experts, including young impact leaders, to identify needs on the ground across Asia and evaluate the quality of applications that come in.

Over the next three years, AVPN wants to gather USD 3 million to promote scalable and successful solutions across Southeast and South Asia. The collaboration between AVPN and Yayasan Hasanah will broaden the Fund’s reach and efficacy in tackling mental health issues among young people in the region.

“Our hope is to enable Malaysian youths to realise their full potential, which includes addressing important issues such as mental health,” stated Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari, Trustee and Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah. We look forward to creating a difference for our kids in conjunction with a social investor network like AVPN, which has a global reach and an Asian impact focus, as the convenor, collaborator, and catalyst for change in Malaysia’s social impact industry.

The Fund strives to fulfil the following goals:

Support and promote scalable and effective solutions developed by credible, strong nonprofit organisations.

Bring together a network of funders to bring size and sustainability to a common portfolio.

Reduce the difficulties that youths confront in reaching mental well-being.