Hidden in Plain Sight: The Global Mental Health Crisis

Mental health challenges are hidden in plain sight, affecting one billion people worldwide. Yet despite this staggering number, these challenges often remain invisible, misunderstood, or ignored. This high-level knowledge exchange event will bring together government officials, experts, practitioners, and other stakeholders to discuss the global mental health crisis and its impacts on individuals, communities, and economies. Countries across all income levels - whether high, middle, or low-income - face significant challenges in addressing mental health needs. This event will identify evidence-based interventions that can be scaled up across settings.

• Mara Warwick

  Country Director, World Bank

  Mara Warwick, an Australian national, is the World Bank Country Director for China and Mongolia and Director for Korea since August 2022. Ms. Warwick is leading a team that is managing an evolving partnership with China, a growing program of support to Mongolia, and a deepening knowledge partnership with Korea focused on innovation and technology.

• Manuela V. Ferro

  Vice President, East Asia and Pacific, World Bank

  Manuela V. Ferro is the World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific. She oversees World Bank relations with 26 countries, over 1,000 staff, and a portfolio totaling around US$34.4 billion. In Fiscal Year 2024, the World Bank delivered an additional US$ 8 billion in new financial commitments for the region.

  Manuela V. Ferro has over three decades of experience in development and held several leadership positions in the World Bank.

• Lee Hyoung Hoon

  Director General, Bureau of Mental Health Policy Ministry of Health and Welfare

  Director General Lee Hyung Hoon was appointed as the Director General of the Bureau of Mental Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare in October 2023. Since his appointment, he has been overseeing three divisions (Division of Mental Health Policy, Division of Mental Health Management, and Division of Suicide Prevention Policy). In his role, Director General Lee actively visits sites and gathers opinions to understand the provision of high-quality treatment, welfare services, and rights protection projects for individuals with mental illnesses.

• Dr. Young Sook Kwack

  President, National Center for Mental Health

  Dr. Young Sook Kwack is the President of the National Center for Mental Health under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, serving a three-year term starting January 2023. As a psychiatrist with a special focus on child and adolescent psychiatry, she has demonstrated outstanding clinical abilities in school mental health and women's psychiatry. Dr. Kwak has also advised on various mental health policies, including serving as a member of the Prime Minister's Child Policy Coordination Committee from 2013 to 2018.

• Professor Sir Graham Thornicroft

  Professor, King's College London

  Graham Thornicroft is Emeritus Professor of Community Psychiatry at the Centre for Implementation Science and the Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Graham chaired the World Health Organization Guideline Development Group for the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide, a practical support for primary care staff to treat people with mental, neurological and substance use disorders in low and lower middle-income countries, which is now used in over 100 countries worldwide. Graham has written over 640 peer-reviewed papers in PubMed, and authored or edited over 32 books.

• Professor Shin Young-chul

  Chair of Korean Presidential Committee on Mental Health Policy Innovation

  Dr. Young-Chul Shin is the chairman of the Mental Health Policy Innovation Committee, a committee directly under the president that was established in June 2024 to establish and coordinate the direction of mental health policy. After training in an addiction clinic at the University of Minnesota, he opened a gambling addiction clinic at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, where he treated gambling addicts for 15 years. He served as the president of the Korean Academy of Addiction Psychiatry and ran the Corporate Mental Health Research Institute for 10 years from 2013.

• Edwin Mburu

  Kenya

  Edwin Mburu is a Lived Experience Expert (ADHD, Bipolar, Substance Use Disorder) with advocacy experience with leading global and national mental health organisations including Time to Change and Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya. He is currently the Communications and Services Officer at Global Mental Health Peer Network. He is the Founder of Mentally Unsilenced through which he has worked with several peer support groups and families to offer support in peoples' recovery journey.

• Yunu Choi

  Founder, Mental Health Korea

  Yunu Choi is the founder of Mental Health Korea, the first consumer-led mental health organization in Korea, dedicated to transforming the mental health landscape through stigma reduction, leadership development, and community-based services. Despite personal challenges with post-traumatic stress disorder, Yunu continues to champion innovative, community-driven approaches to mental health, creating systems that empower individuals and foster a sustainable ecosystem of support.

• Amalie Salbøg Petersen

  Ambassador for the Danish national destigmatization initiative "One of Us"

  Amalie Salbøg Petersen is an ambassador for the Danish national destigmatization initiative "One of Us." She lives with bipolar disorder. In addition to her role as an ambassador, she is studying psychology at university. She hopes that her lived experiences with mental illness can contribute to her future work as a psychologist.

• Alberto Rodriguez

  Regional Director, Human Development for East Asia and the Pacific World Bank Group

  Alberto Rodriguez, a Colombian and Chilean national, joined the World Bank in 1997. In his current role as Regional Director for Human Development in the East Asia and the Pacific Region, he oversees a portfolio of $9.8 billion comprising the World Bank's work on Health, Education, Social Protection, Jobs and Gender. Before this assignment, Dr. Rodriguez was the Global Director for Strategy and Operations in Human Development.

• Kjell Magne Bondevik

  Former Prime Minister, Norway and Founder of the Oslo Center

  Mr. Bondevik was Prime Minister of Norway between 1997 - 2000 and 2001- 2005. Mr. Bondevik is the founder of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and the Center's President since the opening of the Center in August 2005. Mr. Bondevik was appointed Special Humanitarian Envoy for the Horn of Africa by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 2 February 2006.

• Caryn Bredenkamp

  Regional Manager, Health, Nutrition, and Population for East Asia and the Pacific, World Bank

  Dr. Caryn Bredenkamp is the Regional Manager for Health, Nutrition, and Population at the World Bank. In this role, she oversees the World Bank's portfolio of loans and advisory services in 10 countries across East Asia.

• David Wilson

  Program Director for Health, World Bank

  David is the Program Director in the Health Team at the World Bank. He has worked for the World Bank for 25 years, including 10 years as HIV Program Director in the Health, Nutrition and Population Practice. He was recently Task Manager of the World Bank's COVID-19 project, the largest in the World Bank's history. He also established and led the World Bank's Health Preparedness and Emergency Response Trust Fund. He previously led both the Health Practice and the wider Human Development Network's thematic work on Data Science and Technological Innovation.

• Emma Mamo

  Former Head of Workplace Wellbeing Mind UK

  Emma Mamo is a workplace wellbeing, mental health, and social change expert with over 15 years of experience in strategic consulting, programme development, and thought leadership. Previously, Emma was Head of Workplace Wellbeing at the national UK mental health charity Mind for over ten years and was seconded to Scottish Action for Mental Health to develop a strategic vision for workplace wellbeing.

• Professor Jeanyung Chey

  Professor, Psychology and Brain Sciences, Seoul National University Past President, Korean Psychological Association

  Jeanyung Chey is a Member of the Presidential Committee on Mental Health Policy Innovation. She received her Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard University and is Professor of Psychology and Brain Sciences at Seoul National University. She is the immediate past president of the Korean Psychological Association (2022-24). She proposed and consulted on the introduction of the Korean national psychological service, which began in July 2024. At Seoul National University, she is the Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Lab.