Developing global measurement guidance to strengthen adolescent well-being data generation and use at country level

Adolescence is a critical life stage marked by rapid physical, cognitive, and social development with implications for well-being in adulthood and of subsequent generations. Although global attention to adolescent well-being has grown over the past decade, efforts to measure it remain fragmented, sector specific, and include a greater number of indicators of risks and negative outcomes compared to positive well-being. To address these challenges, the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and other United Nations (UN) partners, developed new measurement guidance to support countries in assessing adolescent well-being in a holistic, multisectoral way across the five domains of the UN's consensus Adolescent Well-being Framework (AWF) focused on health and nutrition, connectedness, safety, learning, and agency and resilience. This article describes the process and results of the guidance development. The process incorporated adolescent and youth perspectives, was supported by a multidisciplinary Expert Consultative Group and included several steps, starting with operationalizing the AWF for measurement. Draft guidance was then developed, and the feasibility of its implementation was assessed in Colombia, India, and South Africa. Feedback from country stakeholders led to substantial revisions-clarifying linkages to the broader measurement landscape, strengthening implementation information, and improving usability-before finalization. The guidance supports countries to identify and assemble existing data across all domains of the AWF, identify data gaps, assess current government-led efforts to improve adolescent well-being, and translate findings into action. Rather than prescribing new indicators or data collection efforts, it provides a structured approach and an Excel-based data tool to improve the use of existing data. By promoting a practical, country-led approach and building on existing systems, the guidance aims to support governments in strengthening insight, accountability, and action for adolescent well-being.