Ten First Spouses took part in the 2026 Mental Health Awareness Month campaign

In May 2026, the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform launched the digital campaign “If Not Now — Then When?” to mark Mental Health Awareness Month. The campaign focused on delayed life syndrome — a psychological phenomenon in which people continuously put off caring for themselves in favour of more urgent matters, often due to fear of judgement, fear of making mistakes, or other concerns.

Ten First Ladies and Gentlemen from the Global Platform joined the campaign and shared personal reflections on overcoming delayed life syndrome. Participants included First Lady Olena Zelenska (Ukraine), Doris Schmidauer (Austria), Armanda Begaj (Albania), Rossana Briceño (Belize), Sirje Karis (Estonia), Dr Lucrecia Peinado (Guatemala), Diana Nausėdienė (Lithuania), Tamara Vučić (Serbia), and First Gentleman of Slovenia Dr Aleš Musar.

Their messages and photographs from personal archives became the heart of the campaign, bringing together experiences from different parts of the world around a shared message: people from diverse backgrounds and cultures face common challenges, and the most effective ways to address them are often found together.

The campaign was also joined by partner organisations, including “How Are U?”, the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Programme, and UNICEF Ukraine, both long-standing partners of the Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Global Platform.

In just one month, the campaign reached more than 246,000 people.