Youth Health Speech Contest will be held during the second Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia (hereinafter referred to as GHF) in 2021, inviting young people from around the world to come together and share their voices.

The first GHF, as the first high-level international health conference after Astana Declaration was signed, was wrapped up in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China in June 2019. As a comprehensive platform for high-level dialogues and practical cooperation that integrates governments, business, academia and research, GHF is committed to making itself a high-level, comprehensive and pace-setting forum in the field of global health. In 2015, the then Director of the United Nations Development Programme emphasized in his keynote speech that young people are important partners of the international community in implementing the sustainable development agenda, and that youth participation and attention to youth issues are a critical part of that agenda. In this context, GHF dedicated a Health Forum for Youth to focus on youth health and advocate youth participation.

The first Health Forum for Youth invited Dr. Margaret Chan, President of GHF and Honorary Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Mr. Wang Longde, former Vice Minister of Health and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and other high-level leaders representing international organizations, top-notch academic experts from home and abroad and young people from all continents to take a dive into youth health issues and motivate youth engagement in global health. Dr. Margaret Chan led representatives of the youth from all continents to read the " Initiative for Youth Engagement in Global Health". The first Youth Forum was highly recognized by the Boao Forum for Asia Secretariat and GHF Organizing Committee.

In the second GHF in 2021, acting on the spirit of "Initiative for Youth Engagement in Global Health", the Youth Sub-forum will hold the speech contest themed on “Youth as the Communicators and Guardians of “Health Everywhere” to bring youth health to the fore and increase youth engagement. The contest will cover more than 100 universities, hospitals and other related enterprises and institutions, with experts from national ministries, international organizations, famous media and top universities at home and abroad invited as judges to listen to the voices of young people and appreciate what they have to offer!

Purpose

1. From youth health to global health

The young people are at the core of implementing universal health, and youth health bears on the future of the country and the nation. In this sense, putting the concept of "Health Everywhere" into place shall start with the young people. Health hinges on the good lifestyle, including balanced nutrition, regular schedule, moderate exercise, and a relaxed mood. Developing healthy habits when you’re young will benefit you a lifetime.

2. Put the young people at the heart of health development

Passionate and ambitious, young people are the pioneers of an era, pursuing and realizing the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Their extremely high sensitivity to and concern about innovative technologies and their applications in the health field allow them to be anchor of education of health related knowledge and innovation in this regard. The speech contest is intended to stimulate the imagination and creativity of the youth group, and give a stage for them to leverage their nature of social networking and enthusiasm for communication to bring greater attention to the health cause.

3. Tap and cultivate future leaders in the health field

Oratory skills are at the core of leadership. An era of openness and freedom has given individuals a greater stage to express themselves, and oratory has become an important means to voice opinions, demonstrate charisma, eliminate confrontation and inspire actions. The power of ideas can change the world, and the power of oratory is can have a thrilling resonance. The first-class oratory skills can help bring ideas to lead the way forward. The speech contest can not only bring attention to health issues and drive forward greater engagement, but also provide an opportunity for contestants to hone in on their oratory skills and be confident to make public speeches. In this way, the young elites will stand out and gradually grow into the future leaders in the health field.

4. From conceptual alignment to action guidance

“The downside of chicken soup for the soul is that it only gives soup without a spoon”. Adopting a healthy lifestyle does not happen overnight. We need to know how to initiate the change, and the specific tools and methods, known as guidance for action. How to help parents quit smoking? How to get cancer patients to work with medical professionals on treatment? How to help depressed people fit back into society ...... Addressing health issues is not about lip service, but about creative solutions to make change happen. The speakers of this contest will be not only the preachers of health concepts, but also the explorers of how to address health issues, lighting out way of health forward.

Themes

This speech contest focuses on two themes.

Firstly, young people as the communicator of the concept of “Health Everywhere”: Aimed to call on young people to communicate health knowledge, and develop a healthy lifestyle to keep healthy, the contest invites them from different industries, fields and different groups to share their stories about how to keep healthy in the current context, helping the audiences deal with the potential health problems in a more scientific and effective way with a positive attitude.

Secondly, young people as the guardian of the concept of “Health Everywhere”: Aimed at advocating young people to take on the responsibility and mission of protecting the individual and group health, the contest gives the floor to the young to share their experiences, thoughts and feelings in the work, study and life as the responsible new generation.

Contestants shall base the speeches on one of the themes, and the following topics are available for their reference.

Examples of topics.

(1) Thoughts and suggestions on the Covid-19 (thoughts and suggestions on their own health, disease control system, health system, global health, etc.).

(2) Interpretation and action of “each individual is responsible for his or her own health”.

(3) Mental health issues emerged in fast-paced life and high-pressure workplace.

(4) The significance and application of digital health (including mobile health, Internet health, etc.).

(5) The importance of a healthy lifestyle in the Internet era (Otaku culture).

6) Others.

Application Instructions

I. Eligibility

The contest is open to all walks of life. Contestants should be no more than 35 years old, with different professional backgrounds, occupations and identities. Foreign youths in China are welcomed. Speeches should be in Mandarin Chinese or English, and speakers in English will score extra points as appropriate.

II. Sign-up period

April 7, 2021 - April 30, 2021

III. Entry rules

A speech video of 3 minutes, attached with the script must be emailed to: boaospeech@126.com and received at organizing committee to be eligible for competition. Both the video and the text should be named as “organization + name + speech topic + mobile phone number”.

IV. Video requirements

The video should be shot in landscape, in any format, with no requirement for resolution, but the sound and images of people should be clear. The video should be free of special effects (including no variable speed, sound change, superimposed filters, etc.). There are no special formatting requirements for the video script.

V. Notes

Speech content must not violate relevant regulations and policies of China. Speeches that are suspected irregularities and controversial will not be passed. Only original works are accepted by the contest, and the contestant will be disqualified from the contest if the content of the speech is verified to involve plagiarism. Once the preliminary works have been recognized to be qualified for the next round, in principle, no major changes will be allowed in subsequent competitions. In this sense, please submit your works carefully. No fees will be charged for the competition, and the transportation, accommodation and food costs for the semi-final and final will be covered by the organizers.

VI. Competition Contact

Ms. Tian: boaospeech@126.com

Contest Rules

I. Competition schedule

1) Entry

Contestants will prepare a 3-minute speech video on the themes of the competition and send the video and script to the designated email address. The top 20 will proceed to the next round.

(2) Training camp and semi-final

The pre-competition training camp will be available for the 20 contestants selected in the preliminary round before the final, who will be trained by professional instructors on speech content and skills. The training will be followed by another round of selection scheduled for mid to late May 2021, in Beijing.

3) Final

The finalists will be invited to the GHF Sub-Forum for Youth to deliver their speeches and engage a Q&A session on the themes of the competition. After being judged and scored by a panel of guests, one winner, one first runner-up and one second runner-up will be announced. The final is preliminarily scheduled from June 2, 2021 to June 4, 2021, in Qingdao.

II. Selection mechanism

Among all the entry contestants, those with obvious scientific errors and logical deficiencies in the speech content will be eliminated in the preliminary selection. The preliminary selection committee will be responsible for this round of selection, and about 20 contestants will be cherry-picked to the training camp in the next round.

In the second round of selection in the training camp, the Expert Evaluation Panel will evaluate and score the speech in dimensions such as topic, whether the content is science-based, communication value of the speech content and the expression ability of the speaker. The top 8-10 contestants will make it to the final.

III. Judging Experts

The Expert Evaluation Panel is composed of domestic and foreign renowned scholars and industry experts in the fields of medicine and health, expression and communication and other related fields invited by the competition organizing committee.

The judging panel for the preliminary and second round of selection is composed of 8-10 experts, and is chaired by Mr. Wang Kuancheng from Peking University, the national appointed expert, and Chair Professor Zheng Zhijie of Peking University, with domestically renowned scholars and practitioners in the field of health and communication as the judges to evaluate the content accuracy and expression ability of the contestants.

The judging panel of the final round consists of seven experts, with Ms. Margaret Chan, President of GHF, as the chairperson, and others from national authorities, international organizations, well-known media and top universities at home and abroad.

IV. Rewards

(1) Bonus prize

The contest will provide a generous bonus for the winners (winner 10000 RMB, runner-up 8000 RMB, second runner-up 5000 RMB) and an honorary trophy.

(2) Free access to the second GHF

The final of the competition will be held at the second GHF, and all finalists will be able to make their voices heard at the conference and present themselves to guests from all walks of life. They will also get free tickets to all sub-forums throughout the conference.

3) Free access to professional speech training

The organizing committee of the contest will arrange a "speaker training camp" customized by a professional team for all finalists. The training aims to improve their speech skills in the dimensions of the professional content, expression skills, stage presentation skills, slide design and other aspects, in a variety of ways, such as lectures, group-by-group guidance etc.

4) Internship opportunities in international organizations and partner companies

The competition organizing committee will cooperate with health-related international organizations to provide the finalists with internship opportunities which allow them to gain first-hand experience. Many partner companies of the competition will assign representatives as audiences in the final round and may provide internship opportunities for the outstanding finalists.

V. Organizer

Hosted by

Organizing Committee of Global Health Forum Conference of Boao Forum for Asia

Peking University

Organized by

School of Public Health, Peking University

Institute of Global Health Development, Peking University

Supported by

Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University

School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College

Medical Science Education Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association

Chinese Consortium of Universities for Global Health

China Global Health Network

Shanghai Tuoxin Health Promotion Center

Frost & Sullivan

*The organizer reserves the right of final interpretation of this event.