Last week, when I spoke at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Forum on Sustainable Development, I didn’t walk in trying to convince anyone that mental health matters, as I had found out during my preparations and conversations before the forum that most people in the room already understood that. What I wanted to say, plain and clear, is that in the region, mental health and psychosocial support is still treated like an afterthought, especially in the context of development. This has real-life consequences, particularly for those living through violence, migration, or poverty.

In my work and research with JLI, it’s become evident, through direct conversations and interviews with local partners, listening dialogues, and analysis of regional mapping and evidence reports, that in Latin American and Caribbean communities, local religious leaders such as the pastor, the machi, the priest, the mamo are not only spiritual guides; they are often the first and only line of psychosocial support. They can’t wait for funding or training (though they obviously deserve both). They sit with families, they pray, they listen, and they provide emotional containment to those experiencing pain and grief. Their credibility as members of the communities they serve, as well as the wisdom in the traditions they represent, help make meaning amidst chaos. Unfortunately, their contributions remain largely invisible in policy conversations.

This is why the Final Declaration of the Interreligious Pre-Forum matters. Faith leaders from across traditions stood together, in one voice, and said, “When future generations ask: What did you do while the planet was burning? We came together, we acted, we turned pain into action and faith into a future.” Their roles are widely understood within the communities themselves, and among the religious leaders who do this work daily, but have remained largely invisible in high level health and development conversations. It is not only a call for inclusion, it represents a historic moment: for the first time, religious leaders were invited to contribute a formal declaration to the ECLAC plenary session, something unthinkable until now.

Specifically, we can’t talk about SDG 3 (health and well-being) without naming mental health as central. And we can’t talk about mental health without acknowledging who’s actually on the frontlines. Often, it’s not psychologists or psychiatrists. It’s faith leaders who refuse to let people suffer alone. I was happy to find out that one line I shared during the forum “How can we talk about health and well-being when faith-sensitive mental health services are still considered a luxury in our region?” resonated with several members of the audience.

We need to change that. Not just with more funding and investment but with a more profound, creative shift in how we see care, who we trust to provide it, and what kinds of knowledge we validate and develop evidence for.

Furthermore, there are other grounded, vital priorities that faith leaders and communities are already working toward. The Declaration calls for five specific actions: a) protecting migrant children as in all sustainable development efforts; b) promoting gender equality with a territorial lens, especially for Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and rural women; c) achieving environmental justice in the face of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss; d) safeguarding social rights over handouts and stopgaps, by shifting from charity to justice; e) and doing all of this by centering the voices and leadership of those too often excluded. These are not new fights. What’s new is the clarity with which they are being named, particularly under the current threats to the global multilateral system. The Declaration matters: it speaks with moral clarity and collective conviction. But The Spirit does not move through words alone. It manifests through the quiet, persistent labor of those who have turned prayer into protection, and faith into healing.

1. Andres Martinez, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities; 2. Rabino Daniel Zang, Comunidad Israelita Sefaradí de Chile; 3. Elias Szczytnicki, Regional Secretary General for Latin America and the Caribbean at Religions for Peace; 4. Izani Bruch, Obispa Iglesia Evangélica Luterana-Evangelical chaplain of the Government House at the Palacio de La Moneda; 5. Hna. Nelly León, Fundación Mujer Levántate; 6. Rev. Eduardo Cid, Misión Evangélica Wesleyana en Chile; 7. Arturo Coña, Espiritualidad Mapuche; 8. Claudia Espinosa, Alianza ACT.