Being Initiative

🤝Across East Africa, governments, advocates, and development partners are working together to strengthen community-led mental health systems that deliver real change for people on the ground, advancing our shared goal of deinstitutionalisation and integration of mental health into community and primary health care. The East African Mental Health Summit 2025, hosted by the Ministry of Health (Uganda) in partnership with StrongMinds Uganda and regional partners, created space for dialogue and collaboration around scalable innovations for mental health integration across sectors. We were pleased to see Being Initiative partners TAHMEF, represented by Dr. Juliana Busasi, and the Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH), represented by Innocent Yusufu, share insights on youth-led digital innovations and the need for integrated multisectoral approaches. Faith Nassozi Kyateka represented the organisation, delivered a presentation on translating global commitments from #UNGA80 into national action, and joined a panel discussion exploring opportunities to strengthen domestic and international financing for mental health. 📜Vincent Mujune, Country Director, StrongMinds Uganda, shared that "the East African Mental Health Summit has developed the Kampala call to action, outlining shared regional commitments and actionable strategies to strengthen policies and systems for community mental health services across the region.” 🌍As global conversations move from #UNGA80 toward national implementation, this summit marks an important step in ensuring that policy commitments are matched with action and that communities remain at the heart of sustainable mental health reform. Being Initiative, Fondation Botnar, and Grand Challenges Canada

On this World Mental Health Day, through the Being Initiative, #AAPH_Africa celebrates its ongoing partnership with the Government of Tanzania in advancing the mental health ecosystem. #ForBetterPublicHealth | Being Initiative | Fondation Botnar | United for Global Mental Health | Mary Mwanyika Sando

What does 'Move for Mental Health' mean to you? 🧠 It’s #WorldMentalHealthDay - and today we’re celebrating movement. For some, movement is physical. It's the big or small steps that support wellbeing. For others, it’s a global movement pushing for better mental health for everyone, everywhere. 📣 Tell us in the comments: how do you move for mental health? If this resonates, please reshare the video so more people can join the conversation. #WorldMentalHealthDay #MoveForMentalHealth #MentalHealth Featuring: lululemon Anne Wintroub Wazhma W. Sasha Hajj-Assaf Amy Thompson Lucero Andaluz Llerena Claudia Larrea Sweetbert Anselimus Being Initiative Grand Challenges Canada Dion Ras A&O Shearman Kirsty Taylor Cullen Jones OLY World Health Organization Ogenyi Isaac Agbo Yevheniia Usychenko Charmaine Nyakonda Abigail Tulino Simon Rowe Dave Wheeler Siviwe Soyizwapi Puspita Alwi Zion Ameh Craig Annis Henry May Coschool Sarah Kline Alessandro Massazza Dr Antonis Kousoulis MD, DrPH Aastha S. World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI)

Three out of four mental health conditions begin before the age of 25 yet young people still struggle to access the support they need. At the #QatarMinisterialSummit2025 the Child and Youth Workshop co-hosted by UNICEF, WHO, Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health and UnitedGMH placed young people at the center of the conversation. Governments must invest in a strong and participatory workforce for child and youth mental health and they must scale digital and social innovations that are inclusive and culturally relevant. Youth-led organisations such as Huesofthemind Mental Well-being Foundation in India are already showing what is possible. By reaching more than 100,000 people across 20 countries with creative, community-based approaches they prove that when young people are treated as partners in shaping solutions real change follows. Read Aviwe Funani ‘s reflections from the workshop here: https://lnkd.in/gZsg_mbC #MentalHealthMatters Being Initiative UNICEF

This week, ministers, health leaders and advocates gather in Doha for the 6th Global Mental Health Ministerial Summit. Building on the UN Political Declaration on NCDs and Mental Health, this convening is a critical step to turn commitments into action on deinstitutionalisation, tackling stigma, strengthening youth mental health, and advancing evidence-based digital solutions. 📽️ In this video, Taha Sabri, co-founder of Taskeen and Co-Chair of Global Mental Health Action Network's Stigma and Discrimination Working Group, talks about the Summit and the opportunities it brings for mental health. 🔗 If you'd like to read more about the Summit, click here to hear from Dr Antonis Kousoulis MD, DrPH, Director at the Global Mental Health Action Network (GMHAN), as UnitedGMH and GMHAN members help drive the conversation from dialogue to implementation: https://lnkd.in/e4vZfiMK #MentalHealthMatters #QatarMinisterialSummit2025

Today, for the first time, Heads of State come together to discuss mental health at the High-Level Meeting (HLM) at #UNGA80, making bold policy commitments in the Political Declaration that can bend the curve so that everyone, everywhere has someone to turn to for their mental health. This involves:  ➡️ integrating mental and physical health services to increase the reach of care and deliver savings;  ➡️ providing better mental health support for young people;  ➡️ reducing suicide rates;  ➡️ modernising mental health systems to move away from mental health institutions so protecting more people from harm and enabling them to seek help; ➡️ regulating industries that produce harmful products. Today we celebrate. We celebrate the political commitment, we celebrate the ambition of the Political Declaration for mental health, and we celebrate the voices of experts of experience in the HLM.  But today is just the start, and tomorrow we must hold governments to account for timely and full implementation, with multi-stakeholder mobilisation and collaboration, so that the commitments translate into actions that save lives. 🎥 Watch the video below to hear Sarah Kline, UnitedGMH CEO, deliver a statement at the High-Level Meeting. #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealth

🌍Youth mental health is a priority for us, and that is why we have called for young people to be at the heart of UN discussions on mental health. Today, we were at the Global Summit for Youth Mental Health hosted by the Global Programs at Child Mind Institute in NYC. The Summit focused on the digital dilemma for young people’s mental health, a critical issue. At today’s discussion, panelists from Wellcome Trust, the World Health Organization, McKinsey Health Institute, Global Programs at Child Mind Institute, and Grand Challenges Canada highlighted how youth-led action and lived experience must be at the heart of designing impactful youth mental health programmes. 🤝This is why it is encouraging to see UN member states reflect these priorities in the High-Level Meeting Political Declaration, committing to: “Address the health risks related to digital technology, including social media, such as excessive screen time, exposure to harmful content, social disconnection, social isolation, and loneliness, stressing the importance of updating regulatory and educational systems to ensure that children and young people benefit from the opportunities of digital services, that their human rights are protected online and offline, and that they are protected from the potential negative impact that digital services can have on their physical and mental health.” 📖To learn more about our work for the UN HLM, click here: https://lnkd.in/ghvNhmAB Let’s make mental health unmissable at #UNGA80! #UNGA80 #MentalHealthForAll