We supported UNICEF in exploring innovative ways to understand online mental health and well-being discourse. Our project looked at using AI to identify online discussions of young people on mental health, combining focus group input, annotated datasets, and experiments with large language models (LLMs) in English and Russian.

The research builds on a Proof of Concept in Ukraine. It expands to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, exploring scalable methodologies that could provide more evidence for UNICEF and its partners to tailor cost-effective, data-driven mental health interventions. Despite challenges like data access and cultural nuances, the results demonstrate the potential of AI to provide nuanced insights into sensitive topics. Future work will refine techniques, enabling more precise tools to inform regional policy, advocacy, and youth support.