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On Dec 17, 1988 the UN passed a resolution setting the date and place of the Millennium Summit. A summit unsurpassed in size at the time, meant to lay the foundations of what the UN's role would be in the 21st century.
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In September 2000, after 10 years of discussion and input from over a 1000 groups and 100 countries, the UN established the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Global Action Plan. The Plan set the guidelines for countries to achieve the 8 MDGs by 2015. The MDGs include ending world poverty and hunger, improvement of child and maternal care, combating HIV/AIDS, and more. For more information visit the UN's page on the
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A meeting of 170 UN Member states concludes with more depth and additional targets related to the MGDs and UN Charter.
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In 2008 a high-level meeting took place at the UN. At the meeting, countries recommitted to achieving the MDGs on time by raising an estimated $16 billion dollars to be spent on the goals.
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The World Health Organization develops an action plan for the global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (not including mental illnesses).
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The UN General Assembly met, and agreed, to the importance of improving services for the prevention and treatment of NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseaes) . The Assembly alos agreed to convene in September 2011 to discuss the addition of service and treatment improvement for NCDs to the Millenium Development Goals. While mentall illnesses are NCDs, they are not including the discussion.
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With only 5 years left to reach the goals set by the MDGs, a conference was held at the UN headquarters in New York to review the progress so far. It was found that while some countries were well on track to achieving the goals, others were yet to implement the changes needed.
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For the first time, a declartion by the UN African Health Ministers against NCDs, called the Brazzaville Declratation, mentions mental health illnesses as NCDs.
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This September the UN is holding a high level meeting to discuss including the improvement of care for NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases) to the list of MDGs. While mental health is a NCD, the UN is only considering cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers and chronic lung diseases - i.e. ignoring an illness which affects 25% of the world's population. Your support brings mental health into the disucssion at meetings such as this.
