25 January 2017: In a message to a seminar on ‘Mental Health for All: Local Strategies,’ Dessima Williams, Special Adviser to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) President on Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighted the linkages among the SDGs and stressed the importance of drawing links between the SDGs and mental health issues, including as SDG 3 (good health) relates to targets in SDG 4 (quality education) and SDG 8 (decent work). 

The seminar took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 25 January 2017, and was organized by the New York City Mayor’s Office. The event included a panel discussion on the theme “ThriveNYC: Local roadmap to mental health.”

Opening the seminar, Chirlane McCray, First Lady of New York City, emphasized that the ThriveNYC mental health roadmap aims to change the way people think, end stigma and make treatment accessible.

Williams highlighted ongoing activities of the UNGA President’s office, including raising awareness on the SDGs and participating in the World Innovation Summit on Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) Universal Health Coverage Day.

Ambassador Caleb Otto, Permanent Representative of Palau to the UN, recalled the process that led to the integration of mental health into SDG 3, and noted that sustainable development requires peace and that peace is about more than conflict: “it is about peace within the communities where we live and makes mental health as important as physical health and needing equal consideration.”

Following a panel discussion, participants addressed issues such as lessons learned about community-based mental health care, the interplay between human rights and mental health, and communities dealing with the issue of stigma. [UN Press Release] [IISD Sources]