Annual Meeting: A stellar line up of virtual events

On 2nd and 3rd June, the Global Mental Health Action Network is hosting its Annual Meeting. This is a key opportunity for network members to engage with one another, learn from others and inspire advocacy for the coming year, and this year it will be fully virtual.

With experts including lived experience advocates from around the world, the meeting already has a stellar line up for the ten virtual events.

On Tuesday 2nd June the Annual Meeting will kick off with the Opening Session (2pm BST), which will act as an introduction to the meeting, as well as provide a snapshot of the GMHAN progress, and we will also have Devora Kestel, Director of Mental Health and Substance Use at WHO presenting an overview of the key mental health wins from the World Health Assembly.

This will be followed by a Youth and Child Mental Health workshop, led by the Youth and Child Working Group - with two sessions to suit different time zones (2nd June 3pm BST and 3rd June 7:30am BST)

At 9am BST on 3rd June, War Child Holland & World Vision International will host a session titled - The Silent Siren: Healing the wounds of the COVID-19 Pandemic in War-Torn Countries. The MHPSS Collaborative then host their session at 10:30am BST, where you can learn more about the process that led up to the Copenhagen 2020 Action Plan and its core recommendations on child, youth and family MHPSS.

At 12pm BST, on 3rd June there will be a panel event on Suicide Decriminalisation, where you can learn more about the topic, and the new GMHAN working group that is being developed. This is followed by the American Academy of Pediatrics on Supporting mental health of adolescent girls during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The closing session will take place at 4pm BST on Thursday 3rd June, this will summarise highlights of the meeting, discuss the Global Mental Health Advocacy Roadmap, and look ahead to upcoming initiatives.