Youth Festival 2025: Thousands of Young Jakartans Raise Their Voices for Healthy Living
14 September 2025
Jakarta, September 14, 2025 – An unhealthy lifestyle is making Jakarta’s young people increasingly vulnerable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, heart disease, and mental health disorders. One of the key drivers is the rising trend of e-cigarette use. According to the 2023 Indonesia Health Survey, Jakarta ranks fourth-highest in the country for e-cigarette consumption (6.3%), while nationally, 9.9% of young smokers are recorded as vape or pod users.
To mark International Youth Day on August 12, Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia), together with the Provincial Government of Jakarta, organized Youth Festival 2025. The event was part of the five-year journey of the Young Health Programme (YHP), supported by AstraZeneca Indonesia.
The festival, attended by 3,000 young people from Jakarta, was opened with remarks from Jakarta’s Deputy Governor, Rano Karno, who praised the event as proof of strong collaboration between government, civil society, and organizations like Plan Indonesia in creating safe and positive spaces for youth to express themselves, be creative, and advocate for their physical and mental health.
“Youth health is the foundation of our future. The Jakarta Provincial Government remains committed to encouraging movement and exercise to build a healthier society,” Rano emphasized.
Young People Leading the Healthy Lifestyle Campaign
Youth Festival 2025 featured two main components: a stage performance at Jakarta Fairground and a collaboration with the Jakarta Berjaga Movement (Jakarta Moves, Works, Exercises, and Thrives). In the two months leading up to the festival, young people expressed their campaigns through a series of creative challenges: Instagram reels on tobacco use, short films on mental health, a “No Screen Challenge” to cut down gadget time, and a daily 7,500-steps challenge. These activities became platforms for young people to champion healthy living in fun and relatable ways.
Ida Ngurah, Program Director of Plan Indonesia, underlined the importance of giving young people full access to information on health:
“Young people have the right to comprehensive information about their health so they can make the right decisions. They also need to be supported by safe and enabling environments. Youth Fest is a powerful moment to amplify the call for healthy living and invite all layers of society to join in, especially for children and young people.”
On the main festival day, thousands of youth came together for fun runs, the Clash of Champions competition, mental health talk shows, as well as dance, drama, and music performances. Designed to resonate with young audiences, the event became a large-scale campaign for healthier lifestyles.
For Saniyyah (18), a YHP Peer Educator, the program has been transformative:
“Not only did I build my own capacity, but I’m proud to bring positive change to my community. The impact of Youth Fest won’t stop here—it will continue to create a bigger wave of change, making Indonesian youth healthier, smarter, and more empowered.”
In its fifth year, YHP has worked to ensure that children and young people in Jakarta have stronger knowledge of how to prevent NCDs such as type II diabetes, cancer, heart disease, respiratory illness, and mental or neurological disorders. The program has focused on major risk factors like tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and excessive gadget use, while also addressing sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), gender equality, and emotional well-being as part of its holistic approach to NCD prevention.
