Wishing a prosperous New Year, Solar New Year, and Lunar New Year to all of our members and subscribers! I am both honoured and excited to be stepping into the role of President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and to be working alongside our brand new IASP Executive Committee. Our new team brings a wealth of experience, expertise, and passion and we are all looking forward to working together, and with our members, to continue our global suicide prevention efforts. As we welcome 2025, I also look forward to working with all of you to build on our achievements, embrace new opportunities, and strengthen our shared mission of preventing suicide and suicidal behaviour. It will be a busy, but exciting, few years ahead as we set about putting the new strategic plan into practice.
Of course, the most exciting event of this year will be the 33rd IASP World Congress from 10-13 June 2025 in Vienna, Austria. This is a momentous milestone for us as we will be celebrating our 65th anniversary. For over six decades, IASP has been at the forefront of research, education, and advocacy, working to create a compassionate world, free of suicide. Join us for what will be a fantastic conference – hear from international experts and early career folks alike and be part of conversations. The abstract submission portal for symposia and workshop presentations have now closed, but you can still submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations here. We are also thrilled to announce that bursaries are now available for the World Congress to support attendees from low and middle-income countries, students and individuals with lived/living experience of suicide.
On a wider global scale, we are very much looking forward to the 156th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board, scheduled for 3–11 February 2025. IASP is very pleased to note that mental health and social connection have been featured as a separate provisional agenda item in the Executive Board. Only by continuing these conversations and investing in quality mental health and suicide prevention services globally will we be able to achieve the global commitment to achieving UHC2030 and SDG target 3.4.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the work that we do has never been more important and I cannot wait to connect and collaborate with you in the coming months. Your support and dedication make all the difference!
