The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Every May, it brings together delegations from all WHO Member States to define the major directions of global health policy. During the WHA, resolutions are debated and adopted that shape global public health priorities, guide funding decisions, and steer collective action on major health challenges such as access to care, pandemic preparedness, climate change, and health inequalities. As such, the World Health Assembly represents a key moment for global health governance. The event becomes a unique hub where stakeholders from around the world—scientists, civil society organizations, policymakers, and private sector—gather to exchange, collaborate, and advance advocacy on global health issues. This convergence creates a rare and dynamic space for dialogue across all sectors of global health,

During 2026’s 79th World Health Assembly, HUD Principal Investigator Jonathan Luke Austin will present his team’s work on global mental health technology. The presentation forms part of the Geneva Health Forum events organized alongside the WHA. The abstract for Austin’s intervention – Frontline MHPSS Technology? Scaling, context sensitivity, and future possibilities is:

Can technology support nexus-based approaches to strengthening primary MHPSS care globally? How do we keep the human at the centre of the psychosocial loop when technology enters the picture? Can technology be emancipatory, rather than oppressive, for communities in crisis settings. This intervention explores those questions concretely through long-term action research with humanitarian organizations (terre des hommes, ICRC) and primary care workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, and Colombia developing an electronic clinical decision support system for frontline healthcare workers in crisis settings.

Austin will present alongside Maria Bray (Terre des Hommes), Jean-Pierre Alley (Alima), and Manon Parmentier (Z Foundation). During the discussion, the aim is to further the following core objectives:

• Launch advocacy for the implementation of local, national, and international mental health commitments and mobilize institutional support;
• Identify priority needs to strengthen mental health, taking into account system pressures and operational realities;
• Define priority areas for action to respond to the growing mental health needs in crisis settings, within a nexus approach;
• Highlight the importance of a multisectoral approach, integrating mental health into other essential services and social determinants of health;
• Explore concrete avenues to strengthen localization, notably by consolidating the role of frontline actors and enhancing/valuing their expertise.