In January 2020 a kick-off meeting of the Special Initiative for Mental Health (2019-2023) was held in Geneva, bringing together ministry of health representatives from the first six countries to be part of the Initiative (Bangladesh, Jordan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Ukraine and Zimbabwe), as well as international public mental health experts, people with lived experience, research partners from the University of Washington, and WHO staff.
The goals of the meeting were to:
1. present and discuss preliminary results from country assessments; and
2. explore priorities for Special Initiative activities in each country.
Inspired by presentations from people with lived experience and world-renowned experts, country representatives drafted their top five priorities for action, which could promote mental health system reform in their countries. These priorities are the starting point for the multi-stakeholder consultations in each country, programme design workshops and documentation for implementation.