United Nations System Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for 2024 and beyond
The United Nations System Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for 2024 and beyond is designed to assist the United Nations in creating a working environment that is conducive to good mental health and that ensures that support is available when it is needed. The Strategy provides a road map for creating an inclusive, sustainable work environment where mental health and well-being is embedded in the organizational culture and systems –where each and every one belongs, is valued, nurtured and thrives, ensuring an efficient workforce delivering on our promise of a better world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that mental health is more than the absence of mental health conditions. Rather, it is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their communities.
United Nations personnel at all locations can find themselves working in challenging situations. The challenges can stem from pressure and deadlines, being at a high-risk duty station, isolation from family and being away from one’s country of origin. Successive surveys have shown that United Nations personnel report high levels of symptoms consistent with poor mental health. The working environment can play a direct role in this. Good working conditions protect mental health. Work can also be good for people, and healthy working conditions can protect mental health. United Nations personnel at all locations may be living with mental health conditions irrespective of work as a contributory factor.
