Multi-stakeholder Pledge: Fostering Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing

Key statistics

Since the affirmation of the GCR in 2018, individuals, private businesses, organisations and governments have made 96 pledges¹ to advance the health inclusion and mental health of refugees and host communities and work towards universal health coverage. Working towards the GRF 2023, an additional 235 pledges were made by multi-stakeholder partners on health inclusion and mental health and psychosocial support. Of those, 113 pledges were submitted related to mental health and psychosocial support, of which 95 are currently directly linked to the multi-stakeholder pledge. Altogether, 88 entities from across the world pledge their support, aiming to reach more than 13 million people². The largest number of pledges were submitted by civil society organizations (28) and States (26), including 8 low- and middle-income refugee-hosting countries. Eleven international organisations submitted 15 pledges, including 3 pledges from UN country teams (Afghanistan, Kenya, and Venezuela).

The multi-stakeholder pledge benefits from commitments made from across the world to foster mental health and psychosocial well-being in the humanitarian, development, and peace-building nexus. The largest number of pledges were received from Europe (37). Pledges target all regions, including global pledges with organisation-wide commitments to foster access to quality MHPSS services.

Pledge analysis

Submitted pledges are categorized into three broad pledge thematic areas:

Law and Policy:

These pledges aim to create enabling environments in States for the sustainable inclusion of refugees, other forcibly displaced and stateless people into multi-sectoral systems, policies and programmes around mental health and psychosocial well-being, enabling access to services at par with host communities. This includes pledges to change national legislative frameworks around health, education, protection from gender-based violence (GBV), social welfare, and community development (e.g. Governments of Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Germany, and Moldova), and inclusion in national emergency management services with a special focus on mental health and psychosocial support services (e.g. Government of Algeria, Kenya, and Nigeria). Other pledges (e.g. Moving Minds Alliance) focus on supporting host countries’ policies, services, and systems in relation to Early Childhood Development (ECD).

Programmatic support:

Complementary to policy pledges, programmatic pledges enable the sustainable inclusion in mental health systems and social protection schemes by incorporating MHPSS services into sectors such as health, protection, and education. For example, a joint global policy and technical support pledge on MHPSS was spearheaded by the Governments of the Netherlands, Germany, and the European Commission, joined by the Government of Japan, Amal Alliance, Artolution, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), HIAS, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Medical Corps (IMC), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the Program on Forced Migration and Health at Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University, Save the Children, UNICEF, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). This initiative aims to raise awareness among donors, policymakers and other stakeholders on the importance of delivering quality MHPSS services to displaced populations globally, in line with the 2023 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage and the 2023 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support. Specifically, the joint pledge emphasises the enhancement of MHPSS approaches, capacity, participation, and partnerships across the across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus.

Donor countries (e.g. Austria, Canada, Malta, Switzerland, and the United States of America), and international organisations (e.g. UN country teams in Afghanistan, Kenya, and Venezuela) commit to ensuring, strengthening, and scaling-up the provision of psychosocial activities and programmes, including counselling, for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of abuse among refugees.

An additional number of pledges from civil society organisations (e.g. BRAC, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Welcome Japan, and Quinta Ola) aim to bolster the delivery of safe, inclusive, and equitable mental health and psychosocial support services. This encompasses clinical mental health management, referral services, community outreach, and awareness building among refugees and host communities. Other civil society organisations (e.g. Right To Play International, Education Above All Foundation) and sports organisations (Olympic Refugee Foundation, and the National Olympic and Sports Committees in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Moldova) recognise the imperative of promoting MHPSS and socio-emotional learning (SEL) as an enabler to education outcomes. They highlight the synergy between education, physical activity, and sport in fostering cognitive development and improving mental health and psychosocial well-being.

Faith-based organisations (e.g. Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Anglican Communion, Arigatou International, Jesuit Refugee Service, Refuge Egypt, Scalabrini International Migration Network, and World Vision International) pledge to provide their expertise and facilitate the development of faith-sensitive MHPSS resources and training for faith leaders and mental health practitioners. Private sector partners (e.g. LEGO Foundation, Grundfos Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Porticus) pledge more than 20 million USD⁴ to advance the holistic outcomes and the mental health and psychosocial well-being of displaced populations across different stages of conflict, be it acute, protracted, or recovery phases.

Many pledges are closely linked to other multi-stakeholder pledges such as National Health System Inclusion, Economic Inclusion and Social Protection, Climate Resilient Sustainable Human Settlements for Refugees and their Hosting Communities, Child Rights, Securing Sustainable Futures - Towards a Shared Responsibility to Uphold the Right to Education and Include Refugee Children in National Education Systems, Gender Equality and Protection from Gender-Based Violence, Sport for Inclusion and Protection, Accelerate and Better Leverage Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Approaches in Forced Displacement Settings, as well as regional pledges such as Expanded Resilience, Enhanced Solutions for Rohingya Refugees, and are reflective of the multisectoral needs and the focus on comprehensive solutions.

Data and evidence:

More data and evidence are needed to promote effective evidence-based approaches related to mental health and psychosocial well-being for refugees and the communities that host them. Pledges include undertaking analysis of data on health outcomes and health care services to better understand health status of refugees and humanitarian entrants (e.g. Australia). Moreover, educational institutions (e.g. Queen Margaret University) commit to plan a multi-country research initiative to examine the associations between faith-belief and practice, and symptoms of mental health disorders, global psychological distress and culturally-shaped well-being outcomes. Additionally, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public health commits to develop evidence-based approaches to humanitarian response exploring the connections between sport and health within populations affected by displacement, through the development of trainings, scholarships and employment opportunities to refugees.

Matching

• The Government of Denmark together with the LEGO Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation and Grundfos Foundation has formed an alliance to support the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia to promote MHPSS + SEL to enable education outcomes for refugee, displaced and host community children and youth in the Benishangul Gumuz region.

Recap and next steps:

During the GRF, the multi-stakeholder pledges on National Health System Inclusion and Fostering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support were announced jointly on the first day by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, and Ms. Louange Koffi, refugee nurse and youth advocate. Additionally, a high-level event “Achieving Health and Wellbeing For All”, which included a specific panel on MHPSS, was held with high-level panellists from governments, refugees, international organisations, civil society and private sector.

Going forward, the Group of Friends of Health for Refugees and Host Communities intends to sustain the positive momentum demonstrated at the GRF and will continue to provide support and technical assistance to advance pledge implementation. The Group will capitalise on global and regional events and multilateral processes to advance systematic integration of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian, development, and peace-building programmes, to foster access to quality services and support for all refugees and host communities.

Footnotes

1. Until 30 June 2023
2. Refugees and host communities
3. Global pledges may also refer to those that have yet to determine a country focus or cover multiple regions.
4. Contributions are linked to more than one multi-stakeholder pledge