The Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS) of O.P Jindal Global University(JGU) organised a workshop on ‘Achieving the Sustainable Developmental Goal-3: Mental Health & Subjective Well-being: Towards Building Quality of Life’ on 20^th June 2019 at the Annual Meeting 2019 of the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) in Stellenbosch, South Africa.       

The delegation included Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS, Dr. Manjushree Palit, Dr. Tithi Bhatnagar, and Dr. Mohita Junnarkar. The panel focussed on two SDG targets, namely welfare of everyone at all ages and the need to train mental health professionals.

Expressing his opinion about the lack of awareness of mental health issues and dearth of mental healthcare facilities, Dr Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS told, “Mental health is regarded as one of the most neglected developmental issues in achieving internationally agreed development goals. Mental health workforce statistics in India reveal that mental health workforce per 100,000 populations is significantly less than the recommended minimum level. There is an urgent need to increase awareness and quality training among para-medical fraternity”.

Dr. Mohita Junnarkar, Deputy Director, JIBS spoke about the need to develop non-cognitive skills in children and youth such as self-awareness, empathy, self-control, self-awareness etc. She also emphasised on the need to assess emotional well-being that covers self-awareness, leadership orientation, empathy etc which are important for achieving success in life. Furthermore, she delved into the need to assess emotional well-being that entails self-control, self-awareness, empathy, realistic orientation, leadership qualities etc that are essential for flourishing and being successful in life.  She also discussed the emotional well-being rubric which is being developed and validated by JIBS.  

Dr. Manjushree Palit, Additional Director at JIBS spoke about supervision and training for mental health care professionals. She remarked, “Globally there is a scarcity of professionals trained in evidence-based practices. Therefore, partnerships need to be formed between professionals from high, middle-and-low income countries to develop training manuals, workshops, and supervision for the mental health professionals.” The workshop was well received by the audience at Stellenbosch, South Africa. The teacher training workshops conducted on mental health were applauded and the faculty members also welcomed possibilities of collaboration on training with the African delegates.