95 UN Member States commit to action on mental health

At United for Global Mental Health we have been working hard to ensure that mental health is at the forefront of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic: calling on world and national leaders, as well as global funders, to invest now for the longer term by integrating mental health into COVID-19 response and recovery plans in order to ‘Build Back Better’.

Therefore, we were delighted to see that the UN Friends of Mental Health Group has recently published a statement calling on the United Nations, Member States and all actors concerned to address the mental health dimension of this pandemic. This has been signed by 95 governments, all agreeing that it is “crucial that we all act together”.

They have agreed to strongly support the appeal by the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres, for countries to put mental health front and centre of their responses to, and recovery from, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Importantly the statement highlights a number of key elements:

  • The negative impact of the pandemic on mental health is exacerbated by a historic under-investment in mental health promotion, prevention and care before COVID-19.
  • Mental ill health can affect anyone; the pandemic is most notably impacting the mental health of: children, young people, women, people in humanitarian and conflict settings, older adults and people with pre-existing health conditions, first responders and front-line health-care workers.

All United Nations agencies should ensure that they include mental health in their COVID-19 responses.

All 95 Member States commit to come together urgently to address the mental health dimension of this pandemic.

The countries that signed this statement are:

1. Algeria

2. Andorra

3. Angola

4. Armenia

5. Austria

6. Bahamas

7. Bahrain

8. Bangladesh

9. Barbados

10. Belgium

11. Bhutan

12. Bosnia and Herzegovina

13. Brazil

14. Bulgaria

15. Canada

16. Chile

17. China

18. Colombia

19. Costa Rica

20. Croatia

21. Cyprus

22. Czech Republic

23. Denmark

24. Djibouti

25. Ecuador

26. Egypt

27. El Salvador

28. Estonia

29. Fiji

30. Finland

31. France

32. Gambia

33. Germany

34. Greece

35. Guatemala

36. Honduras

37. Hungary

38. Iraq

39. Ireland

40. Italy

41. Jamaica

42. Japan

43. Jordan

44. Kazakhstan

45. Latvia

46. Liechtenstein

47. Lithuania

48. Luxembourg

49. Madagascar

50. Malaysia

51. Maldives

52. Malta

53. Mexico

54. Monaco

55. Mongolia

56. Morocco

57. Namibia

58. Netherlands

59. New Zealand

60. Nigeria

61. North Macedonia

62. Norway

63. Palau

64. Panama

65. Paraguay

66. Peru

67. Philippines

68. Poland

69. Portugal

70. Republic of Moldova

71. Romania

72. Rwanda

73. San Marino

74. Saudi Arabia

75. Singapore

76. Slovakia

77. Slovenia

78. Spain

79. Sri Lanka

80. St. Kitts & Nevis

81. Sudan

82. Sweden

83. Switzerland

84. Thailand

85. Togo

86. Tonga

87. Trinidad and Tobago

88. Turkmenistan

89. Ukraine

90. United Arab Emirates

91. United Kingdom

92. Uzbekistan

93. Venezuela

94. Zambia

95. European Union