Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced: “The complexity of the political, economic and financial situation in Lebanon absorbs most of our efforts, thinking and work in the government, but our eyes do not always lose sight of our children and the their future. Therefore, the necessary care for the mental health of our children requires us to move quickly to cope with the repercussions of what is happening. “The crises that have plagued our country in the last three years have left it behind.” .
President Mikati spoke during his sponsorship of the “launch of the Public Authority for Mental Health in Schools” this afternoon at the Grand Serail, on the initiative of the provisional Minister of Education, Judge Abbas Al-Halabi, in collaboration with the national team. Lebanese Commission for UNESCO.
The ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs May Mikati, and the ministers: Maurice Selim, Amin Salam, George Kallas, Abbas Al-Halabi and Johnny Corm, and representatives: Bilal Al-Hashimi, Enaya Ezzedine, Adib Abdel Massih, Nada Boustani, Adnan Traboulsi, Qassem Hashem and former parliamentarian Bahia Hariri, the ambassador of the State of Qatar to Lebanon Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Sahlawi, the president of the Lebanese University Bassam Badran, the union of editors Joseph Kasifi and personalities.
In his speech, President Mikati said: “This week the world celebrated World Mental Health Day, more than two years after the Corona pandemic, which hit all corners of the earth, forced hundreds of millions of homes, disrupted commercial activities and rocked the global economy, but its invisible effects have been its negative impact on the psychological state of people, especially young people, who have been denied access to school and imprisoned within the walls of the their homes and computer screens “.
He added: “We in Lebanon have had the largest share of this negative impact, because the pandemic was accompanied by an economic and financial collapse on the one hand, and by a terrifying bombing of the port of Beirut which claimed dozens of victims. wounding thousands “.
He said: “Someone might wonder how the unprecedented economic and financial collapse and explosion can affect the psychological state of young people, and the answer is simply to see these young people in endless lines in front of banks, gas stations and food ovens. bread, and in many cases the families of these young people are part of the queue, otherwise they are themselves with their families in it.
Our attention to the mental health of young people is evident for two reasons: the first is that the elderly are more immunized in the face of crises than the young, and the second is that young people are the future of our country. Therefore, as crises intensify, it is necessary to focus not only on limiting and addressing the economic and financial impact of these crises, but with the same force we must address the psychological repercussions of these crises on the younger generations.
He continued: “We must transform the crisis into an opportunity and, in this regard, the escalation of the crises afflicting our country pushes us to exploit these crises and transform them into an opportunity to create a plan on the basis of which to provide a situation that allows the presence of a mental health consultant in all Lebanese schools, because the school is the place that allows We have access to the highest percentage of children in the country. of civil society, governmental and non-governmental organizations, local and international, to work seriously to achieve this goal in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity, not competition, because the future of our children is not something we compete for to get the loot. ” .
First of all, I invite the Ministry of Education and its administrators to work on the development of a strategic plan dedicated to mental health exclusively in schools for a period of three years in collaboration with all sectors and all parties, and to involve discussion and implementation of all parties and stakeholders and work on the assistance of donor countries, local and international organizations, civil society institutions and all. Who wants this plan to be successful?
Mikati added: “The complexities of the political, economic and financial situation in Lebanon absorb most of our efforts, our thinking and our work in the government, but our eyes do not always lose sight of our children and their future. , therefore, the necessary care for the mental health of our children requires us to move quickly to cope with the repercussions of the crises that have afflicted us. ” our country in the last three years.
In this context, let me announce today that we will start with a modest step by carrying out a pilot project for mental health in two schools, one in the city of Alma Al-Shaab in the far south and the other in the beloved city of Tripoli, in the hope that the success of this experiment is the prelude to generalize it to schools in all Lebanese territories. We ask everyone to work together to make this project a success, because the future of our children is the future of Lebanon “.
In his speech, Minister Al-Halabi said: “Each person means that we work to build his skills and take into account his physical and obviously psychological health. We benefit in this context from the experiences of countries and international organizations, which also consider the mental health in schools is a very important topic, and entered the Global Priority Ladder On 20 September 2022, UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Health Organization launched the “Five Pillars for the Promotion and Protection of Mental Health and Psychosocial Well- Being in schools and learning environments “:” Creating an educational environment for positive mental health and well-being “and” Ensuring access to early intervention, mental health and support services, “promoting teacher well-being” and strengthening the skills and knowledge of educational staff to promote mental health and psychosocial well-being.
In addition to ensuring positive and fruitful cooperation between schools, families and communities to build a safe and stimulating learning environment.
On the basis of these pillars, the mental health policy we will develop will be integrated with the policies of protection, integration and psychosocial learning, so that all these policies work to ensure quality education for all students, without exception.
Al-Halabi added: “While waiting, the Ministry of Education will not stand by, as the Directorate General of Education is currently working on the topic of mental health through several projects implemented by the Coordination and Guidance Authority. with secondary schools and Primary Education Directorates The Ministry is also working to ensure means of psychological support for all students without distinguishing their access to quality education within the available capacities.
He said: “Many efforts have been made in recent years to provide a safe school environment for the child, both by launching the student protection policy in the school environment in 2018, and by starting the implementation of the pilot period for the inclusive policy. public school, or by developing a national framework for socio-emotional learning that we intend to pursue, which will be published in the coming days.
Thank you, President Mikati, for your attention to education and mental and social health, and thanks to Ms. Mai Mikati for her follow up and interest, and thanks to the working group in the Prime Minister’s Office, UNICEF, the National Committee for UNESCO, UNESCO, all partners and donors, and greetings to the working group of the Ministry of Education and the Educational Center, for the efforts of the giants, the continuous coordination and concern for health, psychological and social security of generations.
Al-Halabi concluded: “What you all do, each of his positions, is not only a job imposed by job duties, but also a passion in which there is a lot of love.”
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The coordinator of the National Authority for Mental Health in Schools and Secretary General of the National Committee for UNESCO Heba Nashabe gave a speech in which she said: “Since the school is the place through which we can reach as many as possible children, we see our opportunity, to create a sustainable mental health plan that includes all our children without exception, constitutes a reason to strengthen the mental health components in Lebanon, especially in our schools.
He said: “Working on children’s mental health at school has a positive impact that is reflected on the entire school community, including parents and the local community. Therefore, the initiative of the Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, was to establish a national body that works to help overcome the crises surrounding the school community in general.
He added: “The National Mental Health Authority will disseminate national awareness through all available means and implement initiatives – albeit small at first – in collaboration with NGOs, international, regional and local organizations, as well as with the public sector and private and municipalities, with the aim of helping schoolchildren, teachers and parents to overcome the trials they have undergone, certainly without canceling or diminishing the role of the institutions involved in this work, indeed, the role of the authority will be to provide assistance When necessary.”
Nashabah concluded: “Today we will start a pilot study for two schools: the first,” Alma Al-Shaab Official Intermediate School “in collaboration with the municipality” Alma Al-Shaab “in the far south, and the second,” Mai Model Elementary “in collaboration with” Al-Azm School “of Tripoli.
