Promoting Mental Well-Being to Accelerate Social Progress

The global community has recognized that mental well-being is not only a matter of individual health, but also a pillar of social progress. A new report prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support underscores this very principle: societies cannot achieve sustainable development or inclusive growth without addressing the mental health needs of their people. 

More than one billion people worldwide live with mental health conditions, yet services remain underfunded and stigmatized. The report highlights that anxiety, depression, and suicide continue to undermine productivity, education, social cohesion, and even peace. Because of this, mental well-being is strongly tied to collective progress. When individuals’ mental health is thriving, communities prosper socially and economically. 

Many countries are integrating mental health into universal health coverage, expanding community-based services, and strengthening their workforce. Initiatives such as WHO’s Quality Rights programme and the UNICEF–WHO joint action on child and adolescent well-being are reshaping systems toward a rights-based, person-centred approach. In workplaces, schools, and refugee communities, new strategies are showing how mental health support can strengthen resilience, reduce inequalities, and promote social inclusion. 

Still, the world faces several challenges ahead of mental health promotion. Underinvestment persists, with low-income countries allocating less than 1 per cent of health budgets to mental health. Coercive practices and stigma still undermine trust in care. Crucially, people with lived experience of mental health conditions are too rarely included in policy and programme design, weakening accountability and innovation. 

Accelerating progress requires treating mental health as a universal human right and a driver of development. Rights-based, community-centred approaches must replace institutionalization and coercion. Financing must shift toward comprehensive, system-wide reforms, with sustained domestic and international investment. Education, employment, housing, and justice systems must integrate mental health promotion to address the broader determinants of well-being. Above all, lived experience must be placed at the heart of decision-making. 

Mental well-being enables people to learn, work, create, and connect. It strengthens social cohesion, underpins peacebuilding, and reduces inequality. By embedding mental health into the foundations of public health and sustainable development, we can unlock human potential and accelerate the progress of societies. Inclusive, adequately financed, and rights-based mental health systems are not a luxury, but an essential condition for a just and thriving world. 

To read the full report, click here.