The Wire with Castor

UNICEF and the Global Coalition for Youth Mental Health have launched an open letter calling for greater investment and action on child and youth mental health globally, urging a coordinated multi-sectoral response of at least $200 billion US dollars.

The letter has been signed by over 40 businesses and organisations including Jo Malone London, Les Mills, Pinterest, lululemon, and Spotify. 

Sofia spoke with UNICEF Aotearoa’s Communications Director, Tania Sawicki Mead, about the letter and why mental health support needs more funding. 

She began the interview asking her what the key demands of the letter were.

For our weekly catch-up the Labour Party Wire Host Caeden speaks to mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary on Mental Health Awareness Week and broader mental health policy in Aotearoa.

Discussions on mental health and wellbeing became a focal point during the COVID-19 pandemic, with millions of people around the world being confined to their homes during lockdown and having both their social lives and self-autonomy restricted and changed.

However, for many, the period of time in lockdown was an important period of introspection, and so the time spent at home allowed for key discussions about mental health to be held on social media platforms such as X, formerly twitter.

Forwarding to the present day, a team of researchers from the University of Auckland conducted a study evaluating how social media platforms were used during and how they played a key role in facilitating discussions on mental health.

In line with mental health awareness week, Oto spoke to Shohil Kishore, a researcher in the Business School of the University of Auckland who conducted the study, who I also spoke with about the role social media platforms played in facilitating mental health discussions.

For their regular catch-up, Oto spoke to the Green Party’s Ricardo Menéndez March about the party’s upcoming Special General Meeting to discuss using the Waka Jumping Legislation to remove former MP Darleen Tana from Parliament. They also spoke about Nicola Willis’s announcement to clamp down on public sector Work From Home Arrangements and Minister for Social Development Louise Upston rejecting suggestions for a $3 billion investment to fix child poverty

He spoke to Dr Paula O’Kane from the University of Otago for an expert’s perspective on Nicola Willis’s Work from Home proposals

He spoke to Shohil Kishore from the University of Auckland to discuss a study he conducted evaluating the role of social media in mental health discussions during the Pandemic.

And he spoke to Dr Chris Wilson, also from the University of Auckland, to discuss the release of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens from captivity by the West Papuan Liberation Army, as well as the conflict itself in West Papua.

Sasha spoke to professor of Business and Economics Robert MacCulloch from the University of Auckland about the United State’s Federal Reserve rate cut putting pressure on RBNZ.

And for this week’s Get Action! Sasha spoke to Dave Macpherson from The Future is Rail about a petition he started to ensure replacement Cook Strait ferries can carry trains.