Partnerships for Life: Global Initiative to Prevent Suicide is IASP’s flagship programme, working to build an international collaboration of experts that supports comprehensive, strategic approaches to suicide prevention at the national level. Operating worldwide, reflecting WHO regional structures, the initiative brings together research, situational analysis of national suicide prevention plans and professional networking around shared priorities.
We are pleased to share that Lancet Public Health has published, in Open Access, an article titled Evaluating the outcomes of national suicide prevention strategies: evidence and challenges. The article is the culmination of a significant systematic review by a team of global experts, supported by the Partnerships for Life programme.
The second half of 2026 is a particularly active period, with the initiative represented at regional forums and conferences across the world, a continuing programme of webinars, and a major new publication on the outcomes of national suicide prevention strategies.
Much of the initiative’s European work comes together this August at the 21st European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour (ESSSB21) in Vilnius, Lithuania, where Partnerships for Life and its associated task forces and networks feature across three sessions. On Tuesday 26 August, the European Regional team will lead a workshop, Rethinking Needs and Responses After Suicide, Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia or Suicide Attempt, from 09:00 to 12:00. Chaired by Vita Poštuvan, with contributions from Eve Griffin, Zrinka Laido and Dolores Angela Castelli Dransart, the session asks how national strategies, practices and frameworks respond after a suicide attempt, a death by suicide, or a death following assisted suicide or euthanasia. Short lectures on postvention and bereavement, on aftercare following an attempt, and on the particular challenges of aftercare in the context of assisted dying will lead into a facilitated discussion on how good practices can be established efficiently and embedded within national suicide-related strategies, with the conclusions captured in a report that feeds back into the initiative’s ongoing work. Registration for the workshop is now open.
A further sessions follow on Friday 28 August. The IASP Suicide Prevention in Women and Girls Task Force presents a symposium, Suicidality in Women and Girls, co-chaired by Professor Jo Robinson and Sue Murray, bringing together research and clinical expertise from Liberia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia. The presentations range across the challenges of suicide prevention among school-going girls in Liberia, improving the detection and treatment of psychological distress during menopause, the way women’s suicidality can be rendered invisible in policy and research, domestic-abuse-related suicide understood as gendered violence, and a qualitative comparison of young women’s experiences of suicidality across two cohorts. Together, they make the case for prevention that takes the experiences of women and girls seriously in their own right.
Also on Friday 28 August, the editorial leadership of Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, led by Editor-in-Chief Professor Thomas Niederkrotenthaler, hosts the Crisis Editor Forum, an educational session for those interested in publishing in the journal. Editors will walk through the editorial and peer-review processes and share practical guidance on preparing a high-quality manuscript, with a spotlight on how one published paper developed from first submission through to acceptance. Particularly useful for early-career researchers and clinicians, the session will also consider publication ethics and the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence in manuscript preparation and peer review.
Beyond Vilnius, Partnerships for Life will be represented at regional forums and conferences around the world through the remainder of the year. The initiative will have a presence alongside the Asia Pacific Regional Forum in Fiji from 14 to 16 September, where partners will work together on a concept mapping plan. The workshop will run over 3 days and focus on successful initiatives, challenges, and regional barriers/opportunities across the region and the development of a regional action plan. Day 3 will turn to suicide surveillance, strengthening health systems, improving global reporting, and reducing stigma. The Africa Suicide Prevention Summit in Uganda from 19 to 21 October, where Partnerships for Life will focus on decriminalisation of suicidal behaviour, what happens after decriminalisation and the broader strategic pillars of a national suicide prevention plans. Further regional workshops and session will be hosted at the Pan-America Regional Forum in Costa Rica from 9 to 11 November, and at the N-SPRITE International Conference on Suicide Prevention in India from 30 November to 3 December. Planning is also underway for a meeting in the Eastern Mediterranean region in early 2027. We encourage colleagues to keep checking the links above for further information as the programmes are finalised.
The initiative’s bi-monthly webinar series also continues, with the next webinar led by the Western Pacific team on Thursday 20 August at 11:00 AEST (UTC+10)
To find out more about the initiative and its work across the regions, visit Global Initiative to Prevent Suicide.
