WHO Director General's opening remarks to all staff event for World Mental Health Day 10 October 2024

Good afternoon colleagues, and dear Member States, and happy World Mental Health Day!

Thank you all for joining us, and a special welcome to participants in the WHO Mental Health Forum, who are also joining us today. Welcome, and thank you for contributing your time and expertise to improving mental health and well-being around the world.

As you know, this year's theme for World Mental Health Day is mental health at work.

Work plays a very important role in a person's mental health, providing a sense of identity and purpose, and of course, income.

But it can also be harmful to mental health, through bullying and harassment, sexual violence, inequality and discrimination, racism, heavy workloads, underpayment, a toxic culture and more.

Like me, I know that many of you are proud to work for WHO. You believe in what we do, and rightly so. WHO can be a very fulfilling and rewarding place to work.

But let's not pretend: WHO can also be a stressful place to work, especially when we were at the eye of the storm during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with many things going on even today.

The nature of our work means the stakes are high, the workload can be heavy, and the pressure can be intense.

And sometimes, it's not just the work, it's the workplace that is the cause of stress.

One of the main objectives of the WHO Transformation, as you know, is to build a diverse, motivated, empowered and fit-for-purpose workforce.

Because you are WHO's greatest asset.

We have made some progress, but we also recognise that we have a long way to go.

In particular, we understand that short-term contracts - 60-day rolling contracts - can be a cause of stress for many members of our workforce.

I know friends or colleagues who cannot even rent a house because of the short-term nature of their contract. Imagine, for someone who can't even find a house in Geneva, how stressful that can be.

We're doing our best to change that.

Our contractual reform aims to provide a proposal to move away from successive short-term contracts to a more stable solution.

Of course, this problem is tied to the way our organization is funded. Short-term, unpredictable financing means short-term, unpredictable contracts, and uncertainty and unstability in our contracts.

As I said earlier, we have made good progress towards more predictable and sustainable financing, with the commitment by Member States to increase assessed contributions.

I would like to thank our Member States for the increase in assessed contributions, which is very historic.

The Investment Round is also designed to secure upfront the financing we need for the next four years - and thank you to our Member States for approving that as well.

But transforming the way the organization is financed takes time. When we started we knew it would take a long time. And so therefore does transforming our contractual modalities.

There are many other measures we have taken to support the mental health of staff over the past few years.

For example, we have recruited additional staff counsellors, who can provide individual or group sessions;

The new Employee Assistance Programme provides confidential access to external counselling for colleagues and recognized dependants.

We hold regular webinars with external mental health experts, on topics such as work-life balance, stress management, managing loss and grief, parenting children with disabilities, and more.

Our Mental Health at Work application provides practical advice for colleagues and their loved ones on self-care for mental health, and guidance on managing stress.

The app also provides an overview of the WHO mental health support team across regions and highlights relevant events and webinars.

And we have ensured that services for mental health and well-being are covered under our staff health insurance programme.

We will be working closely with managers and supervisors to offer basic training in supporting employees living with mental health conditions, and prevent risks to their team members' mental health, including ensuring manageable workloads.

As you know, every Thursday afternoon my door is open to any colleague to talk to me about any concern.

So, if you are struggling with your mental health, don't suffer in silence. Talk to anyone you want, including myself.

Thank you all once again for everything you do to serve the people of the world.

As always, I am proud to be your colleague, and proud to be WHO.

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