This extraordinarily informative event had three very special guests which were HE Ivo Josipovic, former President of Croatia, Hon. Anna Wagenheim, former Minister of Health of Greenland and current Member of Parliament and Hon
The Peacful Mind Foundation online event
On Thursday, the 23rd of June 2021, the mental health NGO, the Peacful Mind Foundation and world leaders for mental health hosted an event on the topic of The Advancement of Mental Health Through well-being Diplomacy and Interpersonal Communication with Canadian student and activist Zakria Abdalmomen as the moderator. This extraordinarily informative event had three very special guests which were HE Ivo Josipović, former President of Croatia, Hon. Anna Wagenheim, former Minister of Health of Greenland and current Member of Parliament and Hon. Patricia Ane Kaliati, the Malawi Minister of Women and Child Development. The goal of this event was to send a united message to the public about using interpersonal communication to share mental health struggles and issues that occur locally and around the world then to use
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well-being diplomacy to address those issues. The speakers pressed that it is of it’s utmost importance to have these interdisciplinary discussions as soon as possible with everyone involved. It was also pressed that it is absolutely necessary to have these discussions both on a local and international level. During the event, the speakers included discussions involving the health of children, education, human rights, the law, international relations, lifestyle issues that cause health problems including smoking as well as drinking, social issues such as the different forms of abuse and communication through the arts.
HE Ivo Josipović underscored the importance of communicators such as those in art and technology to recognise the great responsibility to respect public mental health as they have large platforms in addition to the freedom of speech. The former President of Croatia also stressed that young people need to be encouraged to be involved in communication especially through art, film and music especially for the sake of mental health. Hon. Wagenheim of Greenland included the importance of prioritising environmental protection in diplomatic discussions as that is a crucial borderless issue that affects many parts of the lives of people
including their mental health. In Greenland, the Member of Parliament is a part of a new strategy of civil mobilisation and empowerment to address many issues especially mental health. As part of this, she explained that the voices of the children must be heard as they will guide all of us into the future. Hon. Kaliati emphasized that unity is an important factor as we can only advance our common agenda of advancing mental health by standing together.
Mental health is an issue that involves many areas of life from the economy to schooling; therefore by advancing it, citizens can be more encouraged to participate in the decisions of their government.
The Peacful Mind Foundation and its founder, Prof Nabit Kapur fully intend to continue facilitating necessary discussions on the many pathways that all can contribute to in order to expand the efforts to advance mental health everywhere. Prof Kapur has an immense belief that interpersonal communication along with diplomacy will unite the leaders and the public for the mental health of all thus, it will continue to be the mission.