WHO has designated the Centre for Resilience & Socio-Emotional Health at the University of Malta in Msida as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Promotion and Protection in Schools (2025–2029).
For more than 15 years, the Centre has been engaged in research, training and advocacy to support mental health, well-being and resilience in children and young people. It has conducted several research projects on the mental health and well-being of school-aged children, including a nationwide study due to be published in November 2025. The Centre also coordinates an international Master of Resilience in Educational Contexts programme in collaboration with 3 other European universities.
Tools, training and transformation
The Centre provides training and consultation for schools. It is also involved in developing practical resources such as a resilience curriculum for early years and primary schools, and an app for the prevention of self-harm and suicide among young people.
According to Professor Carmel Cefai, Head of the Centre, it is “a very strong advocate, both locally and internationally, for mental health and well-being to become a mandatory key learning goal in 21st-century education”.
The Centre’s 4-year work plan as a WHO collaborating centre includes capacity-building, tool development, knowledge production, and awareness-raising and advocacy through various activities. These include a summer school for education leaders, the development of a collaborative research protocol, publications, webinars and other dissemination strategies.
Cassie Redlich, Technical Officer for Mental Health at WHO/Europe, noted, “Building the capacity of schools and other community settings to be enabling environments for mental health and well-being has been a key priority of the Pan-European Mental Health Coalition since its launch, and we look forward to continuing our work with Professor Cefai to support Member States to achieve this objective.”
Supporting children in a changing world
Professor Cefai explained, “In the past 10 years, my focus has been the role of schools in promoting and protecting mental health and well-being, not only through research, publications, training, programme development and consultation, but also through my participation and contribution in international fora, such as at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the European Commission and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), among others.”
He added, “My strong belief is that education today needs to be responsive to the needs of children and young people in a rapidly changing world, in order to help them navigate effectively the challenges of the 21st century, while seeking to bring systemic change to facilitate positive health and well-being.”