Background: Youth programs focused on denormalizing the tobacco industry have been effective in reducing youth smoking rates. They have also played an important role in empowering youth to engage in tobacco control advocacy, from smoke-free workplaces to increased tobacco taxes. Several years ago, youth programs in several countries started collaborating across borders, leading to a Global Youth Advocacy Training (GYAT) held in conjunction with the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health.

Strategy: A youth advocacy training model consisting of education about the tobacco industry, advocacy skill-building workshops, and preparation for a specific media advocacy event has been used in several countries. Two of these trainings, the GYAT and one before the 2006 Altria meeting, involved Maori youth from New Zealand. At events around the 2006 Altria meeting, participants were educated about Philip Morris's promotion of “Maori Mix” cigarettes in Israel and later denounced the misappropriation of the Maori name to sell death. At the GYAT, youth prepared for and led a march focused on three issues of international relevance: tobacco in movies, excluding tobacco from international trade agreements, and ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Both events garnered significant media coverage in New Zealand.

Conclusion: Not only are youth in a unique position to monitor how the tobacco industry targets them, they can play an important role in targeting the tobacco industry back. They possess tremendous energy, creativity, and passion that can be a valuable resource to tobacco control efforts at the local, national, and international levels.