A professional whose expertise is exceptional in the healthcare sector; he has experience at Board level in the NHS and the Voluntary Sector. The Provision of informatics and commissioning of health and social care services at all Care Levels. He has a very good understanding of healthcare and the digital health agenda.

Ljiljana joined the World Dignity Project in 2018, bringing her extensive communications, marketing and event staging experience. She is a senior communications and engagement specialist with 20 years experience in a variety of organisations – the NHS, voluntary sector and international development. Ljiljana worked for many years as Senior Communications and Engagement Specialist at Mid Essex Hospitals Group, West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, Children and Family Health Services and East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Her experience and portfolio cover internal and external communications including change communications, media management, digital media, brand management, reputation management and stakeholder engagement. She is focused on strategic delivery communications, stakeholder relationship management and engagement and digital communications. In addition, she is experienced in developing and implementing digital communications strategies that support the delivery of organisational business objectives. 

Dignity calls for respecting persons with emotional distress or mental illness and treating them as valued individuals in society. Unfortunately, discrimination and stigma are universal. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse are wide spread and in some countries, persons with severe mental illness are incarcerated for long periods. Their human rights are denied, as are employment and life opportunities. This is a serious blot on mankind. It is time, all organisations dealing with mental health in all countries stand together to end this. Professor Gabriel Ivbijaro has created enormous good will among the mental health profession for the World Dignity Project and I wish it great success as a torch bearer for dignity in mental health.

The World Dignity project seeks to keep up the important work started by WPA on stigma reduction, as well as to offer educational projects for professionals in both primary and mental health settings. It also has to maintain pressure on workers in journalism and television to give a more positive view of mental disorders, rather than perpetuating the emphasis on negative messages. These are worthy aims, and I am happy to be associated with others working on these themes

Dignity is a word with many meanings, most of them highly relevant to relationships with people with mental illness and the provision of care for them. Dignity refers to restraint and propriety in relation to others; conduct in keeping with ethical principles; the appropriate use of authority; relationship with esteem and recognition of value of others. All of these concepts refer to principles which should be respected in mental health work and it is noble, necessary and useful that the World Dignity project has taken upon itself to remind us of these rules and promote their application worldwide.

There are a few essentials humanity cannot live without. The most important of these is our dignity, our inherent value and worth as human beings. For many, the experiences of living with a mental illness strips them of their dignity. It is incumbent on us to ensure that our services restore dignity, and develop a personhood to face society as equals. Cape Mental Health, the oldest community-based mental health NGO in South Africa joined the World Dignity Project at its inception. This organisation holds aloft its umbrella of care and advocacy to restore dignity to persons with mental health needs and address factors that erode their dignity.

Every person who comes into contact with a health care service deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Sadly this is not the case for many people, and especially for many people with mental illness. If we are going to improve the health care provided to people with mental illness, then we need to work together to effect change. The voice of people with mental illness, and their family members and carers, must be heard. The World Dignity Project supports each of us to work together to consider how we treat other people, the impact this has on health care, and how we can all do better.

It was my privilege to be present at the launch of the project in Lille in 2015. I am impressed how this initiative has developed over the year and with the support it receives. This shows that the project is about values that are important not only to the medical profession, but also to patients, their carers and families. These values are also core principles of humane medicine that are also often considered less important in the world of technology and money. This is why they should be promoted: they hold the key to a better society.

Dignity has been described as “the inherent and inalienable worth of all human beings irrespective of social status such as race, gender, physical or mental state” (Funk, Drew, & Baudel, 2015). In a world that often marginalizes individuals with mental illness, isolates them from friends and family, and strips away hope, mental health systems and interventions that promote dignity and social connections are essential. I feel honored to be a part of the World Dignity Project’s mission to provide quality mental health care for all.

It is my great honor to know and work with the World Dignity Project, as there is nothing more important we can do for the world than teach each and every person with dignity and respect, no matter their physical or intellectual abilities. My participation in the Malta conference was a great step in our work on Hope, and I’m looking forward to working with them on operationalizing hope in the coming years as it is a basic human right. I encourage all to become involved in the World Dignity Project, sign the declaration, and carry the values of the project in your communities.