European Mental Health Week 2025 initiated by Mental Health Europe runs from today 19 May until 25th May. This year’s event emphasises the link between mental health and social policies: “encouraging policy makers and people in positions of power to think bigger than the biomedical narrative which focuses on the individual and illness”.
For the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) National Societies (NSs) working in Europe, Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is in most cases an integrated part of the wider assistance to people exposed to or displaced by armed conflict, persecution, general lack of rights, security and perspectives or climate related disasters often in combination. Forced displacement has obvious and severe negative implications both in terms of accessing rights and adversely affecting mental wellbeing; these factors are interlinked and should not be addressed separately.
The fundamental pre-condition for accessing rights is to have a voice, to be heard and seen. MHPSS plays a critical role not only in terms of mitigating mental health challenges but also in ensuring the influence of marginalized and exposed people – giving them the space and confidence to take agency. They know better than anyone what they need, and they are an active and vital partner for RCRC NSs support initiatives – many as volunteers.
The local host communities are a key-resource in the dynamic process of inclusion, with the co-design of spaces and services based on equal sharing and equal value of voices. Community engagement in the delivery and design of programmes fosters empowerment and sustainability, and helps to contextualise MHPSS services to the cultural and historical reality of those being served.
We prioritise learning and knowledge generation to build the evidence base for tailored MHPSS services that better meet the specifics of the human experience and populations in distress. We invest in academic and inter-agency partnerships, to conduct qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and reviews, which are then disseminated globally.
We work alongside National Societies to build their services and systems to efficiently integrate MHPSS activities into cash/ livelihood programmes, health/ first aid services, disaster management and protection activities. We build the capacity of volunteers and staff to conduct MHPSS needs assessments, address barriers limiting access to services and resources, create clear referral pathways to more comprehensive health and protection services and establish peer support systems.
We focus on combating stigma and discrimination, which are drivers of inequality for people living with mental health conditions. The social determinants of access to employment, housing ownership/ tenancy rights and education, remain foundational positive contributors to mental well-being. The needs for support become more complex if inequalities are multiplied by displacement, disasters and armed conflicts.
Further information
Find some relevant resources from the MHPSS Hub Resource Library:
- Mental Health and Human Rights – MHPSS Hub
- Key-Mental-Health-and-Psychosocial-Support-Messages-for-Four-Key-Areas.pdf
- Integration of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – MHPSS Hub
Beyond Europe, the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 19–27 May 2025. The theme of this year’s Health Assembly is: One World for Health.
- Read more from World Health Organization (WHO): Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly
