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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