Article
Supporting your child's mental health
Your child looks to you for love, learning and safety. Try to spend as much quality time together as possible. Fostering a warm and tender relationship, and helping your child feel safe and cared for, go a long way to laying the groundwork for a lifetime of good mental health., Jump to:, Babies | Toddlers | Pr...
Article
“One of the biggest myths about cyberbullying is that it will go away if ignored”
When I was in the first year of high school, I encountered something I could not have imagined before: cyberbullying. One girl created an Instagram profile and published pictures she had taken from my social networks – but with taunts and even making comparisons to animals. When I first heard about the profile, I ...
Report
Policies and resources for safe and supportive schools
The Safe and Supportive Schools Project aims to improve the institutional capacity of the education system to foster a healthy school environment in which social and emotional learning, psychosocial support, well-being and mental health is entirely part of a whole-school approach.A variety of factors have an impac...
Article
Can men get postnatal depression?
For decades, health professionals have been aware of a condition known as postnatal, or postpartum, depression. This is a mental health condition that is similar to depression, but arises within a year of a baby's birth. Symptoms can include feeling low or "empty", lacking energy, and feeling little joy in what us...
Blog post
I help others find their place in this new reality
In a small classroom in Košice, Slovakia, paints, brushes, and soft music set the stage for an art therapy session. As they enter, five teenagers – Masha, Andrij, Katya, Ivan and Alina – are greeted by Sofya, the session leader. All of the adolescents have come to Slovakia from Ukraine, where they fled the war. S...
Report
Young minds matter
“Young Minds Matter: Mental Health Support for Youth and Children in Cyprus” presents findings from a research on mental health promotion and prevention services available to children and youth in Cyprus.Funded by the European Union and implemented by UNICEF in cooperation with the European Commission and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cyprus, the study identifies four main areas needing improvement in Cyprus’s mental health services for y...
Report
Child and youth wellbeing and mental health first
The project in Andalusia is part of a multi-country technical support project that aims at improving the provision of mental health, wellbeing and psychosocial support to children and young people that will be implemented in Spain, (concretely in Andalusia) Cyprus, Italy and Slovenia. In Andalusia, the project wil...
Press release
IMCF and UNICEF renew partnership to strengthen health and psychosocial support for refugees from Ukraine in Poland
Warsaw, Poland, 28 January 2025, – The Institute of Mother and Child Foundation (IMCF) and the UNICEF Refugee Response Office in Poland are renewing their partnership to further enhance health and psychosocial support for refugees from Ukraine in Poland in 2025. Building on a history of successful collaboration, t...
Article
The Kazakh girls leading ADHD reform
After struggling throughout her childhood, Dayana Zhumabaeva was 17 years old before she was diagnosed with ADHD. “I visited two public hospitals and one psychiatric hospital, and the experience was disappointing. The psychiatrists either did not know the abbreviation ADHD or told me that only seven-year-old child...
Press release
Central Asian countries promote positive language around mental health, addressing deep rooted stigma
ASTANA, 16 September 2024, – Countries across Central Asia, and Belarus convened today in Astana, Kazakhstan to acknowledge their work in promoting positive language around mental health and reaffirm their commitment to addressing deep rooted mental health stigma. The two-day conference – organized by the Kazakhst...
Campaign
Enter the chat: How we can make the internet safer for every child
How do we safeguard children online? We empower parents, children and the community to take a stand. Together, we can make a difference. Our first message to children and young people: If you, or someone you know, is being cyberbullied, don’t suffer in silence. Cyberbullying has real-world consequences. #EnterTheC...
Press release
Greater investment in social services needed to build resilient communities and end family separation and institutionalisation of children in Central Asia
TASHKENT/GENEVA, 5 September 2024 –, Government officials, academia, and child rights organizations today called for greater investment in social services across Central Asia, emphasizing the critical role these services play in preventing family separation, supporting vulnerable populations, and fostering sustai...