Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) is an institutional priority for the UN, and for UNICEF, and is critical to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2021-2025 identifies MHPSS as a priority and cross-cutting area in which Health, Education and Child Protection are converging actions. The mental health of children and adolescents is one of the world’s most neglected health issues. It is estimated that 1 in 7 boys and 1 in 9 girls aged 10-19 years in East Asia and the Pacific have a mental health condition, with suicide being the third leading cause of death among them.

In China, according to a mental health survey involving more than 30,000 adolescents conducted by the Institute of Psychology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2022, 14.8% of respondents showed risks of depression to various degrees. The figure was even higher in other studies indicating a higher prevalence of mental disorders with 17.5% of the children and adolescents aged 6-16 years old diagnosed with one or more mental disorders. The prevalence of anxiety disorders was 4.7%, and depressive disorders was 3.0%.

The realities behind data are not limited to health conditions, but also include a series of family and social problems, such as persistent stress, social isolation or exclusion, family poverty, violence and trauma. All these factors could be causes of mental health issues or psychosocial distress of children and adolescents who are at the most vulnerable stages of development, calling for collaborative efforts from various sectors, including child protection, social protection, education, health and justice to ensure the emotional, psychological and social well-being of every child, their caregivers and their communities.

Some actions have been taken in this domain. In 2019, the Chinese government started the Healthy China Initiative (2019-2030) which encouraged the establishment of psychosocial support network, strengthening of social service workforce, education of mental wellbeing and the provision of public service for psychological crisis.

Following the Initiative, a joint proposal, the Action Plan of Child and Adolescent Mental and Psychological Health (2019-2022), was presented by 12 governmental departments and official organizations, with more specific and time-bound detailed goals.

In 2023, to further ensure the successful achievement of the Initiative mentioned above and to improve the mental and psychological wellbeing of students, the Ministry of Education with other 16 state departments and organizations released the Special Action Plan on Strengthening and Improvement of the Work of Student Mental Health in New Era (2023-2025) where the importance of public education, social service network, social workforce and psychosocial supports were also stressed. Months later, the same year, the Three-Year Action Plan for Quality Improvement of Care Services for Left-behind and Vulnerable Children in Rural Areas included the improvement of psychosocial education and services as one of its core tasks.

UNICEF China has been a supportive partner to these government actions. Partnering with ministries and departments, UNICEF China has supported the development MHPSS in different sectors.

• In Child Health and Development, UNICEF supported the development of a mental health service package and a Peer-support toolkit for schools to improve adolescent mental health service and cultivate adolescents’ capabilities in providing psychological first aid to peers.
• In Education, UNICEF is supporting Ministry of Education to scale up social emotional learning in schools and vocational colleges to support children develop core life skills such as self-awareness, emotional management and resilience. Efforts were also made to improve teacher’s capacity to cater for children with special education needs and to strengthen school mechanism to combat school bullying and other forms of violence, all aimed at creating safer learning environment where children can receive adequate protection and psycho-social support.
• In Child Protection, UNICEF China also showed its commitment in strengthening the MHPSS capacity of social service workforce, especially in emergency scenarios and is strengthening the families’ resilience and capacity to deal with stress through parenting programmes and by strengthening children’s resilience through sports and play-based activities that aim to promote psychosocial support.

As UNICEF China is preparing its next programme document (2026-2030), in 2024, UNICEF China intends to take a deep dive on MHPSS to better understand the policy environment and opportunities as well as bottlenecks that exist. In this context, it intends to optimize existing interventions implemented by UNICEF China and suggest pathways for better convergence as well as advocacy opportunities and strategies.

Objective (s)-

• Conduct a scoping exercise of the policy landscape in China in relation to MHPSS; identify opportunities, potential gaps or areas that require attention.
• Within the current policy context, identify areas to which UNICEF China’s action is contributing and areas in which advocacy and programmatic efforts should be strengthened.
• With the policy context and UNICEF’s global approach to MHPSS, develop a conceptual framework for China Country Office.
• Develop recommendations for UNICEF China on how to leverage policy opportunities and how to maximize programmatic convergence, coordination and scaling up, especially in the context of the new Country Programme Document and taking into account other stakeholders.