A/HRC/41/34 68. Similarly, bullying in schools and other settings negatively affects the right to health of children and can have a long-lasting impact on well-being. Prevention of bullying through the promotion of respectful and non-violent relationships from an early age is vital to advancing the right to mental health. The most effective approach to addressing and preventing bullying requires an ecological lens that focuses on the societal level to empower teachers, parents and members of the community rather than on individual perpetrators or victims. Most importantly, children should be supported and empowered with practical skills in how to engage in respectful, non-violent relationships. 69. Investing in the right to health of adolescents in a sustainable way offers huge potential for capitalizing on positive investments in early years, while providing an opportunity to mitigate the impact of negative early experiences and to build resilience to minimize future harm (see A/HRC/32/32). 3. Adulthood and working life 70. How work is organized has profound and lasting social and psychological repercussions. Global shifts in conditions and patterns, and the intensity and distribution of work, have a profound impact on relationships: on family life, the care of children, ageing, and the social structure of whole communities. 30 71. Many studies link psychosocial stress associated with work, finances and childcare with strains in close relationships.31 The most promising social protection policies are those that take a more integrated, multigenerational approach, with the recognition that income is only one of many needs. 72. History shows that improving conditions in the formal and informal labour market and strengthening the accountability of employers depend on freedom of association or affiliation: the opportunity for meaningful relationships of mutual recognition with other workers. Relationships of solidarity, including through unionization to secure better pay, conditions and dignity at work, are critical to the promotion of mental health. 73. While action to improve conditions at work, and recognition and fairer distribution of unpaid work, are important goals for the right to mental health, employment and improving economic productivity should not be the only priorities. 74. There is concern that poor mental health is a threat to economic productivity and that responses should be formulated primarily to restore the workforce. 32 The emphasis on mental health conditions as a global burden and the call to reduce the treatment gap and to bring people affected by such conditions back to the workplace have been increasingly cited when making the economic case for prioritizing global mental health issues. 33 75. The Special Rapporteur expresses his concern with regard to setting priorities that focus on “restoring the workforce” and not on promoting dignity and securing the quality care needed for those left furthest behind. Firstly, improving economic productivity should not be the main reason for investing in good mental health and well-being for everyone. Instead, the promotion and protection of human rights that can effectively transform society should be the first priority. 76. Secondly, while mental health policies and services should address the rights of all persons, there is an immediate obligation to include those who are furthest behind and who may suffer from discrimination, such as those with lived experiences or persons with 30 31 32 33 14 See Pan American Health Organization, Just Societies: Health Equity and Dignified Lives. The Executive Summary Report of the Commission of the Pan American Health Organization on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas (Washington D.C., 2018). See Rosemarie Edillon, The effects of parent’s migration on the rights of the children left behind (United Nations Children’s Fund, 2008). See China Mills, “From ‘invisible problem’ to global priority: the inclusion of mental health in the Sustainable Development Goals” in Development and Change, vol. 49, No. 3 (2018), pp. 843–866. See Patricio V. Marquez and others, Moving the needle: mental health stories from around the world (Washington D.C., World Bank Group, 2018); and Patel V. and others, “Sustainable development and global mental health – a Lancet commission”.