ISLAMABAD: First Lady Begum Samina Alvi on Thursday called for sustained measures, global contributions and support to overcome the problem of mental health and well-being of people in the conflict zones.
She urged the need to make efforts to resolve the current conflicts in the world, adding that promoting peace and working together was essential for the emotional well-being, mental health, and peaceful future of the coming generations.
She expressed these views in her video message for the third Summit of the First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv, Ukraine. The theme of this year’s event, which was launched by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, was “Mental Health: Fragility and Resilience of The Future”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also addressed the summit, which also featured messages from the First Ladies and Gentlemen of Turkiye, Albania, Germany, Japan, Macedonia, Poland, Spain, Armenia, and Sweden, among others.
In her message, Begum Samina Alvi expressed concern about the mental health and well-being of people in conflict zones, besides extending her sympathies to the families in Ukraine who had to face emotional, physical, and mental stresses due to war.
First Lady symphatizes with Ukraine war affectees
She said that we in Pakistan can feel their pain and problems and empathize with the people of Ukraine. We feel that it is humanity that suffers during conflicts and crises.
First Lady underlined that Pakistan’s own experience of hosting millions of Afghan refugees for more than 4 decades and its protracted war against terrorism had taught it that conflict and war severely affected the people’s mental health.
She underscored that the brutalities against the Muslims of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir by India for over 7 decades had badly impacted the mental health of Kashmiri people.
She referred to a study by Doctors Without Borders (DWB) and the University of Kashmir, which disclosed that at least 1.8 million Kashmiri adults, nearly 45% of the region’s adult population, found themselves grappling with varying degrees of mental stress, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorder.
The First Lady said that these troubling figures highlight the profound impact of continuous armed confrontations, military actions, economic shutdowns and the imposition of curfews by the Indian regime.
