The Family Network is happy to share with members some advancements that have resulted from our advocacy role and partnerships with other WBG units.
Mental Health Benefits
After two years of working with around 50 staff members on Mental Health issues for staff and family members, WBG put together a Mental Health Strategy and hired Catherine Mwaniki to coordinate implementation steps. She is chairing an Implementation Board of about 20 staff volunteering their time to work on the program. Some concrete results have already been put into practice:
- In an effort to increase access to Mental Health services for our community worldwide, payments to non-network providers will be reimbursed at a level of 90% instead of 80% previously.
- The reimbursement rate will no longer be attached to staff location but to the location of the Mental Health provider
Parental Loss
Three years ago, by the initiative of staff Paula Rossiasco, who had lost a premature newborn, a group (“Rebuilding Dreams”) was formed with representatives of the Family Network, Staff Association, People & Culture (HR), Health and Safety Directorate, GLOBE, and management, to:
Revisit staff benefits in terms of leave policy that did not consider this sad situation, with birth being the trigger for paternity/maternity leave, therefore only medical leave was possible. As of March 2023, WBG parents who experience the grief and trauma of stillbirth or neonatal death will have access to paid parental leave for both, the primary and secondary caregivers. Also, emergency leave has been expanded to enable staff to grieve a miscarriage. The policy has been updated to extend secondary caregiver leave to ETC/ETTs.
- Consider further enhancements for themes like infertility treatments, and same-sex couples’ procreation, among others.
- To maintain a library of resources, both internal from WBG and external, available at www.wbfn.org
- Organize support for WBG families facing the same kind of trauma , through a monthly Peer Group event. Contact the Family Network at familynetwork@worldbank.org to be invited to subsequent sessions.