The 2025 High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being
NCDs High-Level Meeting STAG
The Global Mental Health Action Network convened the mental health sector to coordinate influencing progressive commitments for mental health at this critical point.
In case you missed it:
🔸 Access “an insider-outsider view” in James Sale’s reflective blog
🔸 Read about the journey to implementation in Dr Antonis Kousoulis’ blog
🔸 Learn how GMHAN’s Short-Term Action Group influenced the HLM process
🔸 See how GMHAN created pathways to youth involvement
🔸 Look back at the advocacy roadmap that led to historic commitments at the HLM
Background and our Focus
Mental Health was an important component of the High-Level Meeting (HLM) of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2025. This was a rare occasion of mental health included at the core of a UNGA high-level meeting. A HLM is a meeting convened by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to help heads of state and governments reach agreements and make commitments on global issues.
Over the last 20 years, several health issues have been prioritised on the global agenda through HLMs at the UNGA, and there have been 3 HLMs focused on NCDs in the past. But this was a rare occasion of mental health being included at the core of such a meeting.
Overall, this agenda has been an urgent opportunity to secure new progressive commitments to deliver high quality, rights-based, integrated person-centred mental health services, integrated into tertiary, secondary, primary and community-based prevention and care. There has been a critical need for progress on the issues of child & adolescent mental health, suicide prevention, moving away from mental health institutionalisations, and the social and commercial determinants of mental health for all.
Our Convening
The Global Mental Health Action Network (Action Network) convened the following:
HLM Mental Health Taskforce: provided the collective expert voice of the global and multilateral mental health sector, informing the work of the international agencies at every step of the journey to September 2025.
The Taskforce was chaired by Dr Antonis Kousoulis, GMHAN’s Secretariat Lead, and its membership was supporting United for Global Mental Health’s position as the Steering Group Member for WHO and the HLM. The Taskforce endorsed the global Brief with key positions for the HLM.
HLM Short-Term Action Group (STAG): a Task & Finish group with national partners that were meeting and working together at critical milestones in this period. The aim was to support GMHAN members who have been keen to leverage the HLM process to drive change nationally and/or internationally. Our STAG was a key part of the international Civil Society’s mechanisms to inform the outcomes of the UN High-Level Meeting. It convened online and one of its key functions was to enable its members to attend key international events in person to ensure that global perspectives are included.
The STAG is chaired by Dr Antonis Kousoulis, GMHAN’s Secretariat Lead, and its membership included: 45 advocates, civil society representatives and people with lived experience from 36 countries and regions.
See how we did it:
🔸 The UN Multi-Stakeholder Hearing: “A Transformative Moment for Global Mental Health Advocacy”
🔸 World Health Assembly: “A Milestone for Global Mental Health Advocacy”
🔸 Watch a compilation of the key positions shared by national mental health advocates at the Multi-Stakeholder Hearing at the UN on May 2nd.
