World Mental Health Day Joint Statement
As part of World Mental Health Day, we have signed onto Mental Health Europe’s joint statement urging the European Commission, European Parliament, and Member States to take substantive action in supporting the mental health of everyone in Europe, particularly children.
The joint statement’s urgent initiatives will help face the challenge through child-specific measures such as:
- Ensure that the digital transformation puts human rights at its centre and supports children and all people to thrive through their life course. It is crucial not to place the responsibility for better mental health outcomes exclusively on the individuals or families but to address structural issues, such as the business model and design of digital services and products and the related power imbalances.
- Put forward a comprehensive and holistic approach to promote good mental health for children and young people – online and offline – building on the commitments under the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the EU Child Guarantee and the EU Youth Strategy. Strengthen preventative measures and early intervention programs.
- Adopt a co-creation approach when developing policies or practices related to mental health. Special efforts should be made to reach out to the groups structurally excluded from decision making processes.
At 5Rights, we look forward to working with the other 32 signing organisations and European institutions to ensure the protection of the mental health of children in Europe.