Past campaignJune 2025

World Conference on Tobacco Control 2025

Young advocates called on the global tobacco control community to move from promises to action and place young people’s welfare and industry accountability at the center of tobacco control.

About the Campaign

The World Conference on Tobacco Control, held from 23 to 25 June 2025, provided a platform for youth perspectives on tobacco industry tactics, policy protection and accountability. GYV’s engagement connected the movement’s Declaration with the need for stronger action by governments and the wider tobacco control community.

The campaign brought the GYV Declaration into a wider conversation about how tobacco control can respond to the industry’s continuing efforts to recruit young people and influence policy. It called for young people’s welfare to guide decisions, for governments to protect policymaking and for companies to face financial and legal accountability for the harms they cause. The conference also offered a setting for youth organizations to exchange advocacy experience and connect that work with the policy discussions ahead at COP11.

Campaign Strategy

Objectives

Place young people’s welfare and perspectives at the center of tobacco control discussions.
Exchange practical experience in countering tobacco industry tactics and interference.
Build youth advocacy for industry accountability and stronger action ahead of COP11.

Key Messages

Turn commitments into action. Youth protection must be reflected in policies and implementation.
Keep policy free from industry influence. Young people’s welfare must guide tobacco control decisions.
Hold the industry financially and legally accountable. The costs of tobacco harm should not be left to families and communities.

Progress & Updates

This section records campaign outputs, institutional responses, and verified developments as the campaign progresses.

June 23

Youth demands open the conference

Gene Gesite delivered the WCTC Youth Committee’s opening remarks and call to action, bringing youth protection and industry accountability before the opening plenary. The remarks reached an estimated audience of 1,300 and set out the need to move from commitments to stronger action.

June 24

Exchanging ways to counter industry tactics

Gene Gesite chaired Youth at the Forefront: Countering Tobacco Industry Tactics and Building a Tobacco-Free Future. Rajika Mahajan presented The Power of Creativity: Global Media Competition Against Tobacco Industry Interference. While Winnie Olwal brought perspectives and regional experience from Africa to further stir the discussions. The session brought together advocacy and communication approaches, with an estimated audience of 40.

June 25

Accountability moves into the discussion

Lisa Lu of IYTC spoke at Generational Accountability: Youth Taking a Stand Against the Tobacco Industry, bringing youth advocacy and intergenerational responsibility into the discussion. The symposium focused on youth participation and on the policy and regulatory gaps that allow industry harms to continue. Lisa also joined a global press briefing, along with Manik Margamahendra of IYCTC and Gene Gesite, taking these perspectives to journalists covering the conference.

June 25

Bringing youth perspectives to the WHO FCTC anniversary

Hilario David de los Santos joined the plenary panel A Milestone in Multilateralism: Reflecting on 20 Years of the WHO FCTC. His contribution added a youth perspective to the anniversary discussion. His reflections were subsequently published by GGTC as Youth in Tobacco Control: Reflections on 20 Years of the WHO FCTC.

June 25

Recognizing youth leadership

Lisa Lu, CEO of IYTC, received a 2025 Luther L. Terry Young Pioneer Award at the conference. The recognition honored the work of a leader from one of GYV’s participating organizations.

June 25

Closing with a call for youth leadership

Winnie Olwal, Y-ACT’s Regional Programme Lead and the conference’s Youth Committee Chair, delivered the youth closing intervention. She called for youth leadership to be embedded in policy and decision-making, carrying the discussion beyond the conference toward a sustained role for young people in tobacco control.