KRALENDIJK – Mental health issues, bullying and threats from other countries are the biggest concerns among children and young people on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. This is revealed by the UNICEF Youth Advisory Report 2026, published on Monday. For the first time, young people on the BES islands were also surveyed. They additionally indicate that they do not feel sufficiently heard by politicians.
UNICEF Netherlands asks children and young people between the ages of ten and eighteen each year what concerns them most. Research agency Ipsos I&O this year also presented a questionnaire to 113 young people on the BES islands and organised a focus group.
Top Three Concerns
Mental health problems top the list at 28 percent. Young people see their peers struggling with stress, low mood and loneliness, and point to a shortage of psychologists and therapists. They also experience a taboo surrounding mental health, saying that parents and teachers rarely discuss the subject.
Bullying follows at 27 percent. Primary school children in particular raise this as a concern. On Sint Eustatius, bullying ranks first. Young people report that discrimination is frequently involved and that intervention only takes place once problems have already escalated.
Third place goes to threats from other countries (26 percent). On Bonaire, this is the primary concern. Young people fear that instability in countries such as Venezuela indirectly affects the islands, including through arms smuggling and drugs arriving by sea.
Not Being Heard
Young people give the Public Entity a grade of 5.4 out of 10 for listening to children and young people. The Dutch government receives a 5.0. "We often fill in surveys, but too little changes afterwards," says one of the young people.
The young people’s recommendations are threefold: greater access to mental health support and safe spaces to talk, a stricter approach to bullying with clear rules and reporting channels, and investment in checks and awareness campaigns around safety.
UNICEF will share the Youth Advisory Report with politicians on all three islands. The findings will be used in the Child Friendly Cities programme that UNICEF is carrying out together with the Public Entities.
Read the report UNICEF Youth Advisory Report 2026 here.
