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Making Mental Health a Global Priority
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 MENTAL HEALTH POLICY
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UNITED NATIONS | | A |
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General Assembly | | Distr.
GENERALA/HRC/10/NGO/113
13 March 2009
ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY | | | |
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Tenth session
Agenda item 9
RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED
FORMS OF INTOLERANCE, FOLLOW-UP AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DURBAN DECLARATION
AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION
Joint written statement* submitted by
International Alliance of Women (IAW), Commission of the Churches on
International Affairs of the World Council of Churches (CCIA/WCC), Brahma
Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU), International Association of
Soldiers for Peace, Zonta International, International Federation of
Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres (IFS), International Council Of Women
(ICW-CIF), International Women's Tribune Centre, International Federation of
Business and Professional Women (BPWI), International Youth and Student
Movement for the United Nations (ISMUN), International Association for
Religious Freedom (IARF), Soroptimist International (SI), World Movement of
Mothers, Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Women’s Federation for World
Peace International (WFWPI), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen
Participation, World Vision International (WVI), Buddha’s Light
International Association, International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW),
World Young Women’s Christian Association (World YWCA), Association for
Progressive Communications (APC), non-governmental organizations in special
consultative status, Conscience and Peace Tax International (CPTI),
Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers), Federación de
Asociaciones de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (España),
Interfaith International, Pax Romana (International Catholic Movement for
Intellectual and Cultural Affairs and International Movement of Catholic
Students), Temple of Understanding (TOU), Women’s International League for
Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF),
International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), International Federation of
University Women (IFUW), Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Worldwide Organization for Women (WOW), Anglican
Consultative Council (ACC), Union of Arab Jurists, Rencontre Africaine pour
la Defense des Droits de l’Homme
* This written statement is issued, unedited, in the
language(s) received from the submitting non-governmental organization(s).
page 2
(RADDHO), Foundation for the Refugee Education Trust
(RET), International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), Inter-African Committee on
Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC),
American Association of Jurists (AAJ), Lassalle-Institut, UNESCO Centre of
Catalonia, Anti-Racism Information Service (ARIS), Colombian Commission of
Jurists (CCJ), Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA),
Ius Primi Viri International Association (IPV), Permanent Assembly for Human
Rights (APDH), International Movement for Fraternal Union Among Races and
Peoples (UFER), Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO),
International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), International Federation
of Women in Legal Careers (FIFCJ), Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW),
International Association for Women's Mental Health (IAWMH), European Union
of Women (EUW), European Women’s Lobby, International Women’s Year Liaison
Group (IWYLG), African Services Committee, Inc., International Federation of
Family Associations of Missing Persons from Armed Conflict (IFFAMPAC),
Institute of International Social Development, African Action on AIDS,
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), Lama Gangchen
World Peace Foundation (LGWPF), Pax Christi International, International
Catholic Peace Movement, Tandem Project, Al-Hakim Foundation, Canadian Voice
of Women for Peace (VOW), Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV),
Solar Cookers International (SCI), Medical Women’s International
Association (MWIA), World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), United States
Federation for Middle East Peace, Susila Dharma International Association,
Network Women in Development Europe, Nord -Sud XXI, General Arab Women
Federation , United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation, World
Association for the School as an Instrument of Peace, International
Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
Latin American Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights (CLADEM), African
Women’s Association (AWA), United Nations Association of Spain (ANUE),
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic,
International Forum for Child Welfare, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian
Residence and Refugee Rights, Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund,
African Commission on Health and Human Rights Promoters, Arab Lawyers Union,
General Federation of Iraqi Women, Wittenberg Center for Alternative
Resources, International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), International
Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC), Interreligious and
International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), Committee for Hispanic
Children and Families, Peace Boat, Prison Fellowship International (PFI),
MYOCHIKAI (Arigatou Foundation), International Association of Charities
(AIC), National Council of Women of Great Britain (NCWGB), Indian Movement
Tupaj Amaru (MITA), Peter Hesse Stiftung Foundation, The Salvation Army,
Action Internationale pour la Paix et Développement dans la Region des
Grands Lacs (AIPD), Federation for Peace and Conciliation (FPC), National
Council of Women of the United States of America, Cairo Institute for Human
Rights Studies (CIHRS), Comite International pour le Respect et
l’Application de la Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples (CIRAC),
World for the World Organisation (WFWO), Education International (EI),
Universal Esperanto Association, National Council of German Women’s
Organisations, Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW), International
Grail, Council of American Overseas Research Centres, ICVolunteers (ICV),
International Association for the Defence of Religious Liberty (AIDLR),
Zenab for Women in Development, The Grail, non-governmental organization in
general consultative status, Institute for Planetary Synthesis (IPS),
International Peace
page 3
Bureau (IPB), UNESCO Centre Basque Country (UNESCO
ETXEA), 3HO Foundation (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization), Dzeno
Association, Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN), International
Movement against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), Association
Nigérienne des Scouts de l’Environnement (ANSEN), International Peace
Research Association (IPRA), International Association of Gerontology and
Geriatrics (IAGG), Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD),
International Progress Organization (IPO), non-governmental organizations on
the roster
The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is
circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution
1996/31.
[18 February 2009]
page 4
Human right to peace versus racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and other forms of intolerance1
I
The Spanish Society for
International Human Rights Law (SSIHRL) welcomed on 30 October 2006 the
adoption of the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace. It was
drafted by a Committee of independent experts and it was the culmination of
a process of extensive consultations with Spanish civil society, with the
support of the Catalonian Agency for Cooperation to Development.
Following
the adoption of the Luarca Declaration, the SSIHRL has continued in all
regions of the world the process of consultations with civil society through
the organization of conferences and expert meetings on the human right to
peace2. In 2010 the SSIHRL will call for a World NGO Conference to analyze
and incorporate inputs received from international civil society and to
adopt the final text of the Universal Declaration on the Human Right to
Peace which will be submitted to the HR Council, urging its Member States to
initiate the official codification of the human right to peace.
On 15 March
2007 the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace was presented to the
fourth session of the Human Rights Council in an oral statement delivered by
UNESCO Etxea on behalf of SSIHRL. Since then several parallel meetings have
taken place at the Palais de Nations in Geneva during the following sessions
of the Human Rights Council3.
1 The following NGO and
peace research centres and foundations without consultative status with
ECOSOC are also supporting the statement: Alberico Gentili International
Studies of the University of Jaen, Foundation Research Seminar on Peace
(Zaragoza), Association for Peace Research Gogoratuz-Gernika, Association of
Trebolgar Coviello, Culture of Peace Foundation, Galician Seminar of
Education on Peace, Spanish League for Human Rights, the Catalan Network of
Organizations on the Human Right to Peace (Catalan Federation of NGOs for
human rights, Catalan Federation of NGOs for Development, Association for
Human Rights in Afghanistan, Human Right Institute of Catalonia, Justice and
Peace –Catalonia-, Group of Jurist Roda Ventura, Jurists without Borders,
Foundation for Peace, Foundation Culture of Peace –Barcelona-, Foundation
Alfonso Comin, UNESCO Center of Catalonia, Escarré International Center for
the Ethnic Minorities and Nations, Peace International University, Virtual
Peace Culture Center of Catalonia), Luna del Sur (Oaxaca, Mexico), Women's
Doctors in Algeria, Peace and Conflict Institute of the University of
Granada, Mexican Commission on Defense and Human Rights Promotion,
Educaterapia Association, Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory
of Catalonia, Federation of Action Verapaz Associations, International Press
Club of Galicia
2 Conferences and expert meetings have already taken place in the
following places: Bilbao and Geneva (November 2006); Mexico (December 2006);
Bogotá, Barcelona and Addis Ababa (March 2007); Caracas and Santo Domingo
(April 2007); Morelia (Mexico, 12 May 2007), Bogotá (12 May 2007), Oviedo
and Santa Fe (New Mexico, USA, 16-17 May 2007); Washington (14 June 2007) ,
Nairobi (15 June 2007), Geneva (28 June 2007); Feldkirch (Austria, 31 August
2007); Geneva (11, 12 and 21 September 2007), Luarca (28 September 2007);
Madrid (23 October 2007); Monterrey (1st November 2007), Mexico DF, Geneva,
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Zaragoza and Navía, Asturias (December 2007); on
the occasion of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, New York (February
2008); Geneva (March 2008); Parliament of Catalonia, Barcelona, Geneva,
Dakar, Madrid and Valencia (April 2008); Rome and Gwangju, Republic of Korea
(May 2008); Geneva and Bilbao (June 2008); Cartagena and Geneva (July 2008);
Paris, Geneva and Montevideo (September 2008); Oviedo, Turin, New York and
Basque Parliament, Vitoria (October 2008); La Plata and Buenos Aires,
Argentina, and Bosco Marengo, Italy (November 2008); Luxembourg, Geneva and
Barcelona (December 2008); Geneva and Barcelona (January 2009); Yaoundé,
Cameroon (February 2009). For more information on these meetings, please see
http://www.aedidh.org
3 On 15 March 2007 both the SSIHRL and the
International Society of Human Rights (Frankfurt) convened an open
Information Meeting on the Luarca Declaration; on 16 March 2007, the SSIHRL
page 5
II
In recent years the reported
acts of incitement to racial, ethnic and religious hatred have
dramatically increased in the world. In all Continents vulnerable
communities, especially members of minorities, are victims of public
utterances calling for intolerance and discrimination and, in some cases,
physical and psychological violence. They are often associated with certain
types of crimes, such as drug trafficking, illegal immigration,
pick-pocketing or shoplifting4. Furthermore, as a result of the overriding
focus on prioritizing security over the international human rights law in
the prevailing political context, treatment of immigrants, refugees and
asylum-seekers is characterized by suspicion that they may be dangerous5.
As recognized by the former
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance, discrimination, racism and xenophobia
constitute by definition a rejection of or a failure to, recognize
differences6. Combating racism requires not only identifying its
manifestations and expressions but also analysing and better understanding
its underlying causes. The resurgence of the racist and xenophobic culture
and mentality can feed and foster a dynamic of conflicts between cultures
and civilizations, which constitutes the most serious threat to world peace7
and therefore to the human right to peace.
The lack of recognition of
multiculturalism is an underlying factor of racism and the central issue
in present-day crisis in most of the regions of the world. Although
societies are the outcome of lengthy historical processes involving contact
between peoples, cultures and religions, the central problem of most modern
societies lies in the fundamental contradiction between the framework of the
nation state, the expression of an exclusive national identity and the
dynamic of multiculturalization8.
The identity crisis is developed
around the dilemma of whether to preserve an ethnic centred identity or to
recognize the reality of cultural and inter-religious pluralism. Identity
should be not an obstacle to, but a factor that enables dialogue, mutual
understanding, rediscovery of the proximity of the other and pluralism. The
concept of diversity should not be interpreted as radical difference,
inequality and discrimination
organized a Technical Meeting with NGO and
human rights experts with a view to building a common strategy for a
world-wide campaign on the human right to peace; 11 June 2007, both UNESCO
Etxea and SSIHR organized an additional parallel meeting on the relationship
between peace and solidarity rights; on 12 September 2007, the SSIHRL in
collaboration with the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva organised a
Roundtable on the legal content of the human right to peace; on 21 September
2007, the SSIHRL organised the commemoration of the International Day of
Peace in the Council Chamber of the Palais de Nations; on 7 March 2008, the
SSIHRL, the International Society of Human Rights (Frankfurt) and UNESCO
Etxea organised a Roundtable on the relationship between extreme poverty and
the human right to peace; on 4 June 2008, the SSIHRL and UNESCO Etxea
organised a Roundtable on the right to education on peace and human rights;
on 12 September 2008, the SSIHRL and UNESCO Etxea organised a Roundtable on
the human right to peace and indigenous peoples; on 19 September 2008, the
SSIHRL, UNESCO Etxea and the NGO Liaison Office of UNOG organised the
commemoration of the International Day of Peace in the Council Chamber of
the Palais de Nations
4 Report submitted by Mr Doudou Diène, former Special Rapporteur
on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, E/CN.4/2004/18, 21 January 2004, paragraph 8
5 Report submitted by Mr Doudou Diène, A/HRC/7/19, 20 February 2008,
paragraph 51 and 65
6 Report submitted by Mr. Doudou Diène, supra note 3, paragraph 5
7 Report submitted by Mr Doudou Diène, E/CN.4/2006/54, 13 January
2006, paragraph 5
8 Report submitted by Mr Doudou Diène, Addendum E/CN.4/2006/16,
18 January 2006, paragraph 29-30
page 6
against the other, but as a vital element enabling to build
a new social vision based on the dialectic of unity, diversity and promotion
of the value of cross fertilization between cultures, peoples, ethnic
identities and religions9. This new social vision should lead to
peace.
The concept of clash of
civilizations, cultures, ethnic identities or religions has been the new
front of the cold war theorists. This ideology has not only shaped the world
view of a growing number of influential politicians and media leaders, but
it also became a new paradigm for some intellectuals and academics. The
ideological paradigm was based both on the use of the defence of national
identity and security10, and the creation of an enemy in the
process of the construction of a national identity.
In their contributions to the
Durban Review Conference the African Group stated that, against the
culture of fear, is necessary to promote dialogue, peace,
cultural diversity and mutual understanding11; and the Latin
American and Caribbean Group concluded that the promotion of tolerance
and cross-cultural values is closely linked to the spirit of the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action12.
Educational policies and
programmes should be orientated to promote peace, respect for
cultural diversity and universal human rights. Furthermore, as indicated by
Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the
Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, human rights education should
play a prominent role in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance and promoting a culture of peace and dialogue13.
Nevertheless, racial
discrimination and xenophobia will rise dramatically up in our societies
unless States would adopt effective measures designed to correct
persistent forms of structural racism and to eradicate social
inequalities which represent the legacy of slavery and colonialism, and feed
poverty.
Since peoples of the world are
entitled to equality of opportunity and the enjoyment of their human rights,
including the right to development and the right to live in peace14,
actions undertaken by Governments aimed at eliminating racism should include
economic and social measures in support of peoples marginalized by
racial discrimination. As emphasized by the Asian Group “poverty,
underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities
are closely associated with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, and contribute to the persistence of racist attitudes
and practices which in turn generate more poverty”15.
9 Report
submitted by Mr Doudou Diène, , E/CN.4/2003/24, 30 January 2003, paragraph
13-15
10 Report submitted by Mr. Doudou Diène, supra note 4, paragraph
56
11 Report of the Regional Preparatory Meeting for Africa for the
Durban Review Conference (Abuja, 24-26 August 2008), A/CONF.211/PC.3/4, 3
September 2008, paragraphs 10 and 18
12 Report of the Regional Conference for Latin America and the
Caribbean, Preparatory to the Durban Review Conference held in Brasilia on
17-19 June 2008, A/CONF.211/PC.3/3, 29 September 2008, paragraph 20
13 Compilation of conclusions and recommendations adopted by the
Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the
Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, doc. A/CONF.211/PC.2/7, 15 April
2008, paragraph 19
14 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, Preamble,
paragraph 21
15 Reports of preparatory meetings activities at the
international, regional and national levels, Durban Review Conference,
Preparatory Committee, A/CONF. 211/PC.3/5, 10 October 2008, p. 7, paragraph
10
page 7
Racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance manifest themselves in an aggravated and
differentiated manner for women and girls “causing their living
standards to deteriorate, generating multiple forms of violence and limiting
or denying them the exercise of their human rights …”16. As we
are approaching the 15th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and
Programme of Action, it should be reaffirmed that all forms of gender-based
violence should be eliminated. Moreover, gender-based violence, such as
battering and other domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual slavery and
exploitation, and international trafficking in women and children,
prostitution, pornography and sexual harassment, are often aggravated by or
resulting of racism, cultural prejudice, racial discrimination and
xenophobia17. The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, as well as its Committee’s General Recommendations, in
particular GR 19 (1992) on violence against women, including older and
inmigrant women, should also be stressed.
A transformed partnership based on
equality between women and men is needed as a condition for people-centred
sustainable development and world peace18. In addition,
the role played by men and boys in advancing gender equality is vital, as
recognized both by the Beijing Declaration and the Commission on the Status
of Women19. Therefore leaders at all levels, as well as parents
and educators, should promote positive male role models that
facilitate boys to become gender-sensitive adults and enable men to support,
promote and respect women’s rights20.
Discrimination and racism is an extended
phenomenon affecting people of African descent and indigenous peoples.
Although some legal and administrative measures have been adopted to
promote, enhance and strengthen the ethnic, cultural, religious and
linguistic identities, participation of minority groups at the
political, economic, social and cultural spheres, continues to be irrelevant
in many countries were racial policies based on superiority, xenophobia or
discrimination are prevailing21. This is in flagrant violation of
the Charter of the United Nations and relevant international human rights
treaties. To efficiently implement main human rights standards, States
should promote dialogue among cultures and religions, enhance respect for
the dignity of peoples of diverse racial origin and belief, including
indigenous peoples and people of African descent; and finally, promote the
human right to peace.
16 Ibidem,
p. 10, paragraph 29
17 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Fourth World
Conference on Women, 15 September 1995, A/CONF.177/20 (1995) and
A/CONF.177/20/Add.1 (1995), paragraph 225
18 Ibidem, paragraphs 1 and 132
19 Report of the Expert Group Meeting that took place in
Brasilia, Brazil from 21 to 24 October 2003: The role of men and boys in
achieving gender equality. United Nations Division of Advancement of Women,
EGM/MEN-BOYS-GE/2003/REPORT, 12 January 2004; Report of the Secretary
General, Thematic issue before the Commission: the role of men and boys in
achieving gender equality, Commission on the Status of Women, E/CN.6/2004/9,
22 December 2003
20 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Population and
Development, held in New York in June/July 1999, paragraph 50
21 According to Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on violence
against women, “the positive cultural elements should be emphasized, while
the oppressive elements in culture-based discourses should be demystified”,
paragraph 52, A/HRC/4/34, 17 January 2007
page 8
As requested in Article 4 of
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination22, States Parties should adopt immediate and
positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of,
racial discrimination. In addition, the Human Rights Committee stated
in its General Comment 1823 that the principle of
non-discrimination, together with equality before the law and equal
protection of the law without any discrimination, constitute a basic and
general principle relating to the protection of human rights.
In addition, the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested States to take all necessary
measures in order to avoid any form of discrimination against immigrants, in
particular asylum-seekers of Roma origin24 and undocumented
non-citizens25.
As stated in paragraph 17 of the
Preamble of the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace,
adopted on 30 October 2006,
“Affirming that the effectiveness
of the right to peace will not be achieved without the realisation of
equal rights for men and women and the respect for their difference,
without respect for the various cultural values and religious beliefs
compatible with human rights, and without the eradication of racism,
xenophobia and the contemporary forms of racial discrimination”
CONCLUSIONS
We therefore urge the Human Rights Council
to further promote the rights of minority groups, African descent people
and indigenous peoples suffering from racism, racial discrimination and
xenophobia, to social justice and equity, non-discrimination and gender
equality, respect of all human rights, cultural diversity, linguistic
rights, solidarity, peace and friendly relations among all nations, races,
ethnicities or religions.
We recommend that the Human Rights Committee
update its General Comment 11 (1983) on Article 20 of ICCPR
(war propaganda should be prohibited by law) in order to address current
challenges.
We also request the Human Rights Council
to remind Member States to be aware of the existing links between efforts
to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, and the
construction of democratic, interactive and egalitarian multiculturalism,
as well as the promotion of dialogue among cultures, civilizations
and religions, as a means to achieve the human right to peace and to
combat racial and religious intolerance.
22 Adopted
and opened for signature and ratification by General Assembly resolution
2106 (XX) of 21 December 1965, entry into force 4 January 1969
23 Human Rights Committee, General Comment 18, Non-discrimination
(Thirty-seventh session, 1989), Compilation of General Comments and General
Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9
(Vol. I) of 27 May 2008, pp. 234-236 (Spanish text)
24 General Recommendation XXVII on discrimination against Roma,
Fifty-seventh session (2000), HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. II) of 27 May2008, pp.
30-35 (Spanish text)
25 General Recommendation XXX on discrimination against
non-citizens, Sixty-fifth session (2005), ibidem, pp. 44-49 (Spanish text)
page 9
We further request Member
States to take necessary measures aiming at the realization of
fundamental rights of minority groups, as contained in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the
Convention on the Political Rights of Women, the Durban Declaration and Plan
of Action, the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, and the ILO
Convention No. 111 on non-discrimination in access to employment and
occupation.
The Human Rights Council should
request the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to
analyse the issue of multiple discrimination and aggravated forms of
discrimination with a racial component, and to adopt general
recommendations on the methodology for countering this phenomenon.
We also urge Member States
to recognize the need to eliminate discrimination against women as
requested by the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of the Fourth
World Conference on Women of 1995; to promote women participation at
all levels of decision-making on peace and security issues, as
provided for in Security Council Resolution 1325; and to foster the role
of men and boys in advancing gender equality.
We further
recommend that a Draft Declaration on human rights education and
training be proposed by the Advisory Committee to define positive
obligations of States regarding the incorporation of human rights education
in their education systems, including private, religious, and military
schools; to ensure access to a continuous life-long education at all ages in
a society marked by professional mobility and migration; and to include
the right to education on peace and human rights.
Finally, we invite all
international actors to fully participate at the Workshop on the right
of peoples to peace, to be organized by the High Commissioner in
April 2009 pursuant to Council resolution 8/9, adopted on 18 June 2008.
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2008 Report of
World Federation for Mental Health Activities
at the United Nations
The World Federation for Mental
Health (WFMH) has had Special Consultative Status at the United
Nations since 1963. It had much earlier contacts with some
United Nations agencies, having been founded in 1948, the same
year as the United Nations itself. A close connection has been
maintained since those early beginnings with the World Health
Organization, a United Nations agency with headquarters in
Geneva. In 2008, as in previous years, WFMH volunteer UN
Representatives were active in both New York and Geneva.
At United
Nations Headquarters in New York:
WFMH participates in the
activities of the NGO Committee on Mental Health, a coalition of
mental health organizations that it helped to found in 1996.
WFMH UN Representatives attended the monthly meetings of the
Committee and its Working Groups and helped to organize various
programs. Nancy Wallace, WFMH’s Main Representative, is a former
chair of the NGO Committee and serves on its Executive
Committee. Ricki Kantrowitz was a Co-Convenor ht the Working
Group on Gender Perspectives. Richard Donahue and Linda Conte
were Co-Convenors of the Committee’s Working Group on Children,
Youth and Mental Health.
Nancy Wallace and Linda Conte
are WFMH’s Representatives to the UN Department of Public
Information/NGO Relations. They attended the DPI briefings for
NGOs and forwarded information about UN activities to WFMH.
52nd Session of the UN
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
The 52nd Session was held from 25 February to 7 March, 2008,
with the Priority Theme of “Financing for Gender Equality and
Empowerment of Women.” WFMH co-sponsored two NGO Parallel Events
related to the theme during the Session, on “Conflict
Resolution: Good Practices for Gender Empowerment” (27 February)
and “Financing for Women’s Mental Health and Gender Empowerment”
(28 February). Nancy Wallace was one of the moderators of the
latter panel. Also, WFMH UN Representative Professor Ricki
Kantrowitz was one of the moderators of the panel sponsored by
the NGO Committee on Mental Health on “Investing in Women’s
Mental Health: Reaping the Benefits” (5 March) and an organizer
of two meetings of the caucus on women and mental health (27
February and 5 March).
UN High Level Meeting on
HIV/AIDS
WFMH was accredited as an observer at this meeting. It was
attended by Secretary General/CEO Preston J. Garrison and Main
Representative Nancy Wallace.
World Mental Health Day
Observance at the UN
World Mental Health Day (10 October) is an international public
education program on mental health, founded by WFMH in 1992. The
theme for 2008 was “Making Mental Health a Global Priority:
Scaling Up Services Through
Citizen Advocacy and Action.” In
recent years the Secretary-General of the United Nations has
released a message to mark the Day. In 2008 Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon’s message noted that “mental health is of paramount
importance for personal well-being, family relationships and an
individual’s ability to contribute to society.” In Geneva the
World Health Organization marked the Day with the formal launch
of its new initiative on scaling up care for mental,
neurological and substance use disorders, to try to reduce the
large gaps in the provision of mental health services in low-
and middle-income countries.
In New York the UN Department
of Public Information/NGO Relations, in collaboration with the
NGO Committee on Mental Health, arranged a three-hour program to
mark World Mental Health Day in the Dag Hammarskjӧld Library
Auditorium. Nancy Wallace gave opening remarks in observance of
the day. The event was broadcast on radio, TV and the web by a
UN network.
At the United
Nations Office in Geneva and the World Health Organization
(WHO):
WFMH Representatives attended
NGO events at the UN Office in Geneva and monitored the meetings
of the World Health Organization’s World Health Assembly and
Executive Board. The Federation cooperates with the WHO
Department of Mental Health as issues arise throughout the year.
WFMH Main Representative Myrna
Lachenal spoke on a seminar panel arranged by the World Council
of Churches on 18 February on “Mental Health: Compassion and
Action.” The lead speaker was Dr. Benedetto Saraceno from the
WHO Department of Mental Health.
Among the issues followed by
the WFMH Representatives in Geneva during 2008 were extreme
poverty, HIV/AIDS, reduction of alcohol abuse, and
discrimination against older women.
Global Strategy on
Reducing Alcohol Abuse
The development of strategies to reduce the harmful use of
alcohol was a major concern at the World Health Organization in
2008. A resolution on the subject was adopted at the WHO
Executive Board meeting in January (EB111R2). Subsequently, an
amended resolution was adopted at the May meeting of the WHO
Health Assembly. WHO is now developing a draft Global Strategy
on reducing alcohol use to present to the Executive Board and
Health Assembly in 2010. WFMH was invited to attend a WHO
Roundtable Meeting on the topic for NGOs and professionals on
24-25 November 2008. The Federation was represented at the
meeting by its Main Representative in Geneva, Myrna Lachenal.
NGO Statement to the
Human Rights Commission
WFMH signed on to an NGO Statement to the UN Human
Rights Council urging the Council
to act in support of the rights of minority groups and
indigenous peoples, and to combat racism, racial discrimination,
zenophobia and intolerance.
The Statement also asked the Council to recognize the need to
eliminate discrimination against women.
General Recommendation on
the Rights of Older Women
The Commission of the Convention on the Elimination of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) held its 42nd Session in
Geneva in November, 2008. On 6 November it agreed to prepare a
new CEDAW General Recommendation on Older Women, focusing on
protection of their rights, and a working group was established
the following day to draft it. WFMH signed on to an NGO
statement supporting the proposal and outlining the forms of
discrimination experienced by women as they age.
WFMH Volunteer
Representatives at the United Nations in 2008:
New York
Nancy Wallace, Main Representative, ECOSOC and DPI
Prof. Ricki Kantrowitz
Richard Donahue
Gary S. Belkin, M.D.
Prof. Haydee Montenegro
Linda Conte, DPI
Geneva
Myrna Lachenal
Stanislas Flache, M.D.
Anne Yamada-Vetsch
2007 UN Report
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WFMH MEMBER ASSEMBLY ENDORSES
UN CONVENTION
ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
The WFMH Member Assembly,
meeting in Hong Kong SAR China on August 20, 2007, endorsed the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities and urged national governments throughout the world
to embrace and implement the provisions of the Convention.
(To
view the full text of the Convention and other important
information, visit
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150)
The Resolution adopted by the
WFMH Member Assembly, as submitted by its Voting Member
organization Mental Health America (USA), reads as follows:
“WHEREAS the United
Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus on December 13,
2006, a landmark treaty to promote and protect the rights of the
world's 650 million people with disabilities; and
WHEREAS mental
impairments are explicitly included in the treaty and are among
the most prevalent and most disabling of all health conditions;
and
WHEREAS the U N
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will
require ratifying nations "to promote, protect and ensure the
full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote
respect for their inherent dignity" and promote awareness of the
capabilities of those who are disabled
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the
World Federation for Mental Health support the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
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WORLD FEDERATION FOR
MENTAL HEALTH
POSITION STATEMENT
(Final version,
adopted at Board of Director’s Meeting, Oslo, Norway, October
13, 2006)
MENTAL HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
The position
of the World Federation for Mental Health is that lack of mental
health care for persons infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in
low-income countries is causing undue suffering and loss of
quality of life, and undermining the effectiveness of HAART,
Psychosocial Support and other crucial HIV/AIDS programs
Preamble
The World
Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is made up of organizations
and individual members representing all mental health
professional disciplines, service users, carers and citizen
advocates from over 100 countries. WFMH has noted that, whereas
people infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in higher income
countries have access to a wide range of mental health services
from prevention to care and rehabilitation, mental health
services in low-income countries are generally lacking, or
under-utilized due to ignorance, or stigma associated with
mental health. In this position statement, WFMH calls for
recognition of and response to the impact of this deficiency on
the quality of life of survivors and on the effectiveness of
Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART), Psychosocial
Support and other HIV/AIDS programs in low-income countries.
The
HIV/AIDS epidemic in low-income countries
The declaration
following the 2006 United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGASS)
High-Level Meeting on AIDS reaffirmed that HIV/AIDS constitutes
a global emergency that requires an exceptional and
comprehensive global strategy. More than 25 million people have
died since the onset of the epidemic a quarter of a century ago,
and 15 million have been orphaned. There are 14000 new
infections every day, and 8000 deaths. Forty million people are
currently living with HIV, more than 95 percent of whom are in
developing countries. While the pandemic affects every region of
the world, Africa, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa, remains the
worst affected region.
Although the
declaration reaffirms that access to medication is one of the
fundamental elements for the achievement of physical
health, it recognizes that many other factors must be addressed
for the pandemic to be reversed: these include gender
discrimination, stigma, poverty, and the knowledge and behaviour
of youth, as well as human resource deficiencies. The
declaration also asserts that addressing the vulnerabilities of
affected and infected children and supporting their caregivers
is a priority.
Current
status of global HIV/AIDS interventions
The global
HIV/AIDS response includes many initiatives coordinated by or in
collaboration with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS) and supported by the Global Fund. Member states adopted
the first specific global target against HIV/AIDS at the UN
General Assembly (UNGASS) in July 1999, and the Global Strategy
Framework and The Declaration of Commitment followed in 2000 and
2001 respectively. UNICEF and other organizations published The
Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and
Vulnerable Children living in a world with HIV/AIDS in 2004. In
2003 the World Health Organisation committed to getting
anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for 3 million people living with
HIV/AIDS in poor countries by 2005 (3 by 5 Program). In 2004,
the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse began
an initiative to integrate mental health into the 3 by 5
program. Many nongovernmental and faith-based organizations also
contribute to the global HIV/AIDS response, such as the
International HIV/AIDS Alliance, established in 1993 to support
community action on AIDS in developing countries, and the
International Council of Aids Service Organizations (ICASO).
The report of
the Secretary-General to the 2006 UNGASS Meeting on AIDS stated
that the epidemic continues to outpace the global response: only
about one in five people in low- and middle-income countries who
need antiretroviral drugs are currently obtaining them, and
services to prevent mother-to-child transmission reach fewer
than 10% of those needing them. Only one in four youth correctly
identify ways of preventing HIV transmission. Less than one in
ten vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa are reached by
basic support services. Stigma and discrimination are still
pervasive, and remain a serious obstacle to the success of
HIV/AIDS intervention programmes. The Secretary-General added
that “comprehensive AIDS treatment and care involves more than
antiretrovirals, encompassing the treatment of opportunistic
infections, proper food and nutrition, psychosocial care and
other essential health and social services…While developing
countries should do more to finance the response to HIV, the
world must look primarily to international donors to close the
looming resource gap”.
The 2006
Meeting was the first in which a person living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH)
was invited to address an UNGASS meeting. This has opened a much
needed channel of communication between global policy makers and
those for whom the policy is being devised. The 2006 meeting
recommitted itself to implement fully the 2001 Declaration of
Commitment, the Millenium Development Goals, and other
internationally agreed goals and objectives. Another first was
the resolution to integrate food and nutritional support in the
response to HIV/AIDS, with the Global Fund in future to include
funding for nutrition in ART roll-out funding. The meeting urged
the Global Fund and other international donors to provide
additional resources to low- and middle-income countries for the
strengthening of HIV/AIDS programs and health and social service
systems, and for addressing gaps in resources.
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Mental
Health and HIV/AIDS in low-income countries
Many factors
contribute to an increased mental health burden in low-income
countries. Higher rates of morbidity and mortality from a range
of infectious diseases and environmental hazards contribute to a
raised prevalence of mental and developmental disorders, as do
poverty, the plight of women, and the difficult circumstances
which children
have to endure. Ignorance and stigma regarding mental disorders,
compounded by major treatment gaps, also contribute
significantly to the burden. The implication is that large
numbers of children, adolescents and adults, rather than only a
small severely affected proportion, are suffering from or at
risk for mental health problems in these countries. Furthermore,
indications are that the burden of mental health in low-income
countries is on the increase.
HIV infection
induces a range of serious mental disorders. Even post-HAART,
PLWH continue to remain at risk for common mental disorders and
mild cognitive impairment. Individuals with pre-existing mental
or personality disorders have increased vulnerability to HIV
infection, and may present major challenges in the areas of
voluntary counseling and testing, high-risk behaviour, adherence
to antiretroviral treatment, and parenting capacity. HIV/AIDS
undermines parenting functions and the quality of the
parent-child relationship, especially when mothers are infected.
HIV/AIDS also leads to profound psychosocial adversity for
infected and affected children, increasing the risk of mental
and developmental disorders.
Evidence is
accumulating that mental disorders and other psychosocial
stressors decrease the CD4 count and increase the viral load,
even in those enrolled in HAART programs. Interventions to treat
mental disorders and manage psychosocial stressors have been
found to reverse these effects. Mental health interventions with
persons living with AIDS who do not have mental disorders appear
to exert beneficial effects in a number of settings: for
instance, interventions to improve coping skills are associated
with positive effects on CD4 counts and viral loads; and
interventions to assist with disclosure issues improve
adherence, as do interventions to improve patient-physician
communication and interactions.
In summary, the
existing mental health burden in low-income countries is
significantly raised and on the increase. HIV/AIDS is associated
with an elevated risk of mental disorder in infected individuals
and their children, which is likely to persist post-HAART and
post-Psychosocial Support for at least another generation.
Mental disorder is associated with an increased risk both of
contracting HIV infection, and of undermining the body’s
response to the infection, even in the presence of
antiretrovirals. The implication is that mental health, like
stigma or food and nutrition, is a significant mediator in the
success of HAART and psychosocial support programs in low-income
countries. Their citizens’ lack of access to mental health
services is of grave concern and import.
Mental
health and the global HIV/AIDS response
UNAIDS and its
partners have recognized the circular relationship between
HIV/AIDS and social and other disadvantage, such as poverty,
gender inequality, and poor nutrition. The last few years have
seen increasing calls to improve the efficacy of HAART and
psychosocial support in low-income countries by increasing
multisectoral collaboration, strengthening linkages with
national development plans and strategies such as poverty
eradication strategies, embedding funding for food and
nutritional support in HAART budgets, and mainstreaming HIV/AIDS
interventions in all health and social service programs,
including disaster programs. There are calls for psychosocial
support programs to be integrated with paediatric HAART,
home-based care and all the childhood programs with which HAART
is being integrated, including nutrition. Psychosocial support
programs are moving away from discriminating between orphans and
children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, and the many other
vulnerable children in developing countries. Added to these
developments, have been the recent calls by the WHO 3 by 5
Mental Health working group for the integration of mental health
into HIV/AIDS interventions in low-income countries.
Currently,
mental health is not integrated with HAART programs, nor has
this been recommended in any of the major international HIV/AIDS
declarations to date. Mental health is not specifically
identified as a matter for concern in any of the HIV/AIDS global
policy documents or funding strategies. Historically,
psychosocial support programs have focused on the social needs
and coping capacity of vulnerable children and their carers,
rather than on the identification of those at risk for mental
and developmental disorders, and their prevention and treatment.
In the light of the mutually reinforcing relationship between
mental health problems and HIV/AIDS, WFMH urges that mental
health be integrated into all HIV/AIDS interventions in
low-income countries. Researching,
costing, implementing and evaluating effective and sustainable
models of integration are a priority. Core funding for the
development and/or strengthening of mental health services
should be incorporated into global funding initiatives for HAART,
psychosocial support and other HIV/AIDS programs.
The WHO 3 by 5
Mental Health working group has developed a number of training
materials but mental health care resources in developing
countries are severely limiting the implementation of training
programs. Until all the essential elements of mental health care
are present in low-income countries, such as promotion,
prevention, care and rehabilitation, as well as sufficient
trained staff and access to essential psychotropic medication,
there is a likelihood that this important initiative will
deliver too little too late. The integration of mental health
into HIV/AIDS in low-income countries will require urgent
strengthening of their mental health programs. The WHO has
recommended that the development and implementation of an
adequately funded National Mental Health Policy and Plan is the
most effective way of ensuring provision of appropriate mental
health care. National Mental Health and HIV/AIDS Plans need to
be coordinated and integrated.
Without
integration the effectiveness of HAART and psychosocial support
programs in low-income countries will be seriously undermined,
and the quality of life of survivors of HIV/AIDS and their
families significantly reduced. Only recognition of the adverse
impact of mental health problems on the AIDS pandemic and an
urgent response by UNAIDS in collaboration with its
intergovernmental and nongovernmental partners, and member
countries can avert this outcome. A first step towards the
global integration of mental health into HIV/AIDS interventions
would be the integration of mental health into the policy making
structures of all international, regional and national bodies
responsible for interventions.
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Conclusion
WFMH recognizes
that access to ART and preventive programs are fundamental to
stopping the pandemic, and also have a major impact on the
mental health of those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. However
WFMH wishes to re-iterate that the mental and physical elements
and consequences of HIV/AIDS are interrelated, and that a large
proportion of the population in many low-income countries is at
high risk for mental health problems. Mental health is being
insufficiently addressed in current HIV/AIDS interventions in
low-income countries. Given the concentration of the epidemic in
those countries and their rising burden of mental health, the
World Federation for Mental Health calls upon the international
community to advocate for
- urgent
closure of the resource gap which is depriving those
infected or affected by HIV/AIDS from receiving adequate
mental health care, and from benefiting fully from HAART,
psychosocial support and other HIV/AIDS programs
- The
integration of mental health into HIV/AIDS interventions in
low-income countries
Mental
health bibliography
Brandt R (2005) Maternal well-being, childcare and child
adjustment in the context of HIV/AIDS: What does the
psychological literature say? University of Cape Town Centre for
Social Science Research working paper 05/135:
http://cssr.uct.ac.za
Collins PY, Holman AR, Freeman MC, Patel V (2006) What is the
relevance of mental health to HIV/AIDS care and treatment
programs in developing countries? A systematic review. AIDS, 20
(12): 1571-1582
Desjarlais R, Eisenberg L, Good B, Kleinman A (1995) World
Mental Health: Problems and priorities in low-income countries.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
Freeman MC, Patel V, Collins PY, Bertolote JM (2005) Integrating
mental health in global initiatives for HIV/AIDS, British
Journal of Psychiatry, 187, 1-3
Kohn R, Saxena S, Levav I, Saraceno B (2004) The treatment gap
in mental health care. Bulletin of the World Health
Organization, 82, 858-866
Proceedings of the 2005 AIDSIMPACT Conference, Cape Town
Revised Atlas (2005) Mental health resources in the world.
Geneva: World Health Organization
World Health Report (2001). Mental Health: new understanding,
new hope. Geneva: World Health Organization
2006 issues of Mental Health AIDS:
http://mentalhealthAIDS.samhsa.gov.
Adopted by
the Board of Directors
World Federation for Mental Health
October 14, 2006
Oslo, Norway
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DECLARATION OF THE CONSORTIUM FOR
GLOBAL INFANT, CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH
The social, emotional and
mental health of infants, children and adolescents is essential
for effective learning and for sustaining healthy and productive
societies. Beginning early in life, a broad range of programs
from mental health promotion to early intervention, treatment
and care can provide resiliency and protection. Threats to the
mental health of children are recognized worldwide in the form
of exposure to violence, malnutrition, poverty, school failure,
disrupted families, lack of opportunities for self-sufficiency
and mental illness. Despite an increasing body of evidence
documenting the objective costs to society of mental ill health
in children and adolescents, influential policies and meaningful
financial support are lacking*. In fact, in some nations, child
mental health is suffering due to cutbacks in and a lack of
access to services previously available. This is a critical
period in world history when there is a need to redress past
failures and focus with a heightened sense of urgency on a few
steps that can be undertaken globally to improve the mental
health status of children and adolescents.
The World Health Organization
has documented the absence of programs for social emotional
learning and mental health promotion, as well as services for
children with or at risk for mental disorders worldwide (Atlas,
2005). The gaps are universal, but there are obvious differences
in countries by economic development, historical precedent and
impact of current events. Where the number of children is
greatest, the resources are the least! The WHO Atlas
demonstrated that long held beliefs that the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child ensured a level of access
to preventive programs and care and the fulfillment of a
mentally healthy life, and that the training of primary care
clinicians alleviated the need for other service initiatives,
were not true. The absence of infant, child and adolescent
focused mental health policy appears to be a significant
limiting factor to the support for promotion, prevention and
care.
Lack of a skilled education,
counseling and health care workforce hampers the delivery of
needed programs and services. This deficit, coupled with a lag
in the ability of primary health care services to incorporate
mental health interventions, and a failure of public health and
education initiatives to highlight mental health issues, has led
to continuing gaps in care over decades despite the clarion call
for change to meet needs. In spite of the overwhelming evidence
of cost effectiveness for interventions, such as those for
infants at the beginning of life, including home visiting to
benefit both the mother and child and their attachment
relationships and to recognize difficulties in parent-child
interaction, policy makers have failed to invest in and provide
support for their implementation at the needed scale. Much more
must be done to increase the awareness of educators concerning
the interdependent link between mental health, learning and
school success and the many evaluated programs to address mental
health along the continuum.
Imperfections in current
diagnostic schema are recognized. A better understanding of the
place of culture in both recognizing and ameliorating pathology
is needed. Likewise, recognizing the singular importance of
schools and the multiple tragedies that result from school
dropout must become part of the public debate. There is a
growing concern that a focus on pharmacological approaches to
the care of infants, children and adolescents in the absence of
adequate diagnostic procedures may distort the development of
services.
For the purpose of gaining a
consensus on the needed steps, many international organizations
have come together, forming a coalition to advocate for
necessary changes in policies and programs. The Consortium for
Global, Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health*** represents
consumers, professionals across disciplines and a broad range of
institutional supporters.
The Consortium endorses the
following recommendations:
--- Recognize a place for the
consideration and utilization of infant, child and adolescent
mental health interventions in international bodies, such as,
the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank,
International Organization for Migration, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, International Red Cross and Red
Crescent, and others which care for children and adolescents in
their daily lives and during the aftermath of war, natural
disaster, and other upheavals. Currently, there is no focal
point designated for infant, child, or adolescent mental health
in these organizations.
--- Foster the development of
infant, child and adolescent mental health policy as an integral
part of education, social welfare, health policy and health
reform. Many guides to policy development exist with a most
useful one being the WHO publication, Manual on Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Policy Guidance.
--- Recognize and support
inter-sectoral responses to child and adolescent mental health
that help address the social, economic and political
determinants of mental health and mental illness in children and
adolescents. Utilize childcare, educational resources, community
education resources, health care promotion initiatives to focus
on mental health as an essential component of health and
education awareness.
--- Recognize and intervene at
the earliest possible developmental stage to promote positive
mental health and to avert the consequences of growing up with
conditions, which interfere with healthy mental development. The
field of infant mental health provides sophisticated guidance
for promoting mental health. Likewise, it is now recognized that
over 50% of all adult mental disorders begin before the age of
14, and many can be prevented through promotion and
intervention, especially through schools.
- It is the intention of the
Consortium to initiate a Global Infant, Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Report Card. Data will identify continuing
gaps in policy, services, educational activities, economic
support and report on examples of distortions and crises in
care. Core data for the Report Card will be derived through
the resources of Consortium members, but others are invited
to participate in this global initiative.
- Further, the Consortium
will initiate the free distribution of an annual yearbook
containing articles on best practices, newer scientific
findings, and systems development. The Yearbook will be
specifically aimed to enhance the resources of low income
countries.
In the final analysis, the
Consortium aims to support promotion and prevention and to
alleviate the suffering of vulnerable infants, children and
adolescents so that a variety of sectors and agencies can become
more actively involved in supporting a trajectory for healthy
development., saving untold suffering and costs to individuals,
families and societies..
The Consortium seeks to gain a
better understanding of the clinical and policy issues that
either impede or support the ability to deliver culturally
relevant, responsible and responsive services to infants,
children and adolescent.
Mentally healthy children
and adolescents are essential for the future well-being of our
societies.
NOTES:
* Mental health cost fact
sheet.
** Rational care defines care for children and adolescents that
includes an appropriate diagnostic process, involvement of the
family, recognition of the child’s environment, the treatment of
any disorder in a manner that is based on efficacy and
effectiveness, and the utilization of interventions that do not
inappropriately utilize medications.
*** Consortium members: World
Association for Infant Mental Health; International Society for
Adolescent Psychiatry & Psychology; World Federation for Mental
Health; International Association for Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry and Allied Professions; EDC/INTERCAMHS….
Endorsed by the WFMH Board of
Directors, August 22, 2007
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WFMH Volunteer UN
Representatives
New York
Nancy Wallace, L.M.S.W., Main Representative (also DPI Main
Representative)
Ricki Kantrowitz, Ph.D.
Richard Donahue, M.S.W.
Haydee Montenegro, Ph.D.
Gary Belkin, M.D.
Geneva
Myrna Lachenal, R.N., Main Representative
Anne Yamada
Stanislas Flache, M.D.
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Improving
mental health and well-being
by promoting the
social inclusion of (ex)users of mental health services
means taking a
decisive step towards the eradication of poverty and social
exclusion
Position of
Mental Health Europe on the occasion of the 6th Round Table on
Poverty and Social Exclusion, Azores, Portugal 16-17 October
2007
(Used by
permission of Mental Health Europe)
On 16-17 October the annual
Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion, jointly
organised this year by the Portuguese Presidency and the
European Commission, will take place for the sixth time. The
Round Table provides a meeting point where national and local
public authorities, NGOs and academics can deepen the work done
in the area of social protection and social inclusion. This
year's event will focus on the importance of minimum social
standards as a key tool for strategies to fight against poverty
and exclusion which, in different countries, are built on the
twin pillars of protection and empowerment.
Mental Health Europe (MHE) has
been invited to participate in this event and is presenting the
viewpoint of mental health organisations in Europe on how the
Open Method of Coordination on Social Protection and Social
Inclusion as well as all other different dimensions of
strategies for combating poverty and social exclusion can help
promoting mental health and well-being for all in Europe and
therefore ensure basic levels of citizenship and a ground on
which to build new and equal opportunities for everyone.
MHE's main concern is to raise
awareness about the fact that good mental health and
well-being of the European population is a valuable resource,
which enables citizens to realise their full intellectual and
emotional potential and to find and fulfil their roles in
society, in school, in working life and in retirement. For
the European Union, mental health and well-being will contribute
to the attainment of some of the EU’s strategic policy
objectives, such as the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs.
In today’s Europe where important demographic and social
changes, such as the ageing of the population, falling birth
rates, increased immigration both from within and outside the
European Union, are under way, these changes will have far
reaching consequences for all vulnerable groups, their mental
health and well-being. These changes require a fundamental
reassessment of how health and social and other relevant
resources are organised and utilised, and a serious political
debate on how to best face and deal with these challenges.
MHE's position paper and recommendations for promoting mental
health and well-being for all in Europe can be found on the MHE
website:
http://www.mhe-sme.org/assets/files/publications/MHE%20Position%20for%206th%20RT%20on%20Poverty%20and%20Social%20Exclusion.pdf
For further information please
contact the MHE secretariat:
info@mhe-sme.org, +32 2 280 04 68.
Améliorer la santé
mentale et le bien-être par le biais de la promotion de
l’intégration sociale des (ex)usagers des services de santé
mentale signifie effectuer des pas décisifs en vue de
l’éradiction de la pauvreté et de l’exclusion sociale
Position de
Santé Mentale Europe à l’occasion de la 6ème table ronde sur la
pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale, Açores, Portugal 16-17 octobre
2007
Les 16-17 octobre la table
ronde annuelle sur la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale, qui
cette année est organisée conjointement par la Présidence
portugaise et la Commission européenne, se tiendra pour la
sixième fois. La table ronde constitue un point de rencontre où
les autorités publiques nationales et locales, les ONG et les
universitaires peuvent approfondir le travail réalisé dans le
domaine de la protection sociale et de l’inclusion sociale.
L’événement de cette année se concentrera sur l’importance des
minima sociaux, un outil clé pour les stratégies de lutte contre
la pauvreté et l’exclusion qui, dans différents pays, a pour
base les deux piliers que sont la protection et l’autonomisation.
Santé Mentale Europe (SME) a
été invitée à participer à cet événement et à présenter le point
de vue des organisations européennes en santé mentale sur la
façon dont la Méthode Ouverte de Coordination sur la protection
sociale et l’inclusion sociale et toutes les autres dimensions
des stratégies de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion
sociale peuvent aider à promouvoir la santé mentale et le
bien-être pour tous en Europe et assurer par conséquent des
niveaux minimums de citoyenneté et une base sur laquelle bâtir
une nouvelle égalité des chances pour tous.
Le principal souci de SME est
de sensibiliser le public au fait que la bonne santé mentale
et le bien-être de la population européenne constituent une
ressource précieuse, qui permet aux citoyens de réaliser leur
plein potentiel intellectuel et émotionnel et de remplir leur
rôle dans la société, à l’école, au travail et au moment de leur
retraite. Pour l’Union européenne, la santé mentale et le
bien-être contribueront à atteindre certains des objectifs
politiques stratégiques de l’UE, tels que la Stratégie de
Lisbonne sur la croissance et l’emploi. Dans l’Europe
d’aujourd’hui d’importants changements démographiques et sociaux,
comme le vieillissement de la population, la baisse des taux de
natalité et l’augmentation de l’immigration tant venue d’Europe
que de ses frontières extérieures, sont en cours. Ces
changements auront des conséquences étendues pour les groupes
les plus vulnérables, leur santé mentale et leur bien-être. Ces
changements nécessitent une réévaluation totale de la manière
dont les ressources sanitaires, sociales ou autres sont
organisées et employées et l’organisation d’un débat politique
de grande envergure sur la façon de mieux faire face et
affronter ces défis. Le document de position de SME et les
recommandations pour promouvoir la santé mentale et le bien-être
de tous en Europe peuvent être consultés sur le site internet de
SME :
http://www.mhe-sme.org/assets/files/publications/Position%20SME%20sur%206e%20TR%20Pauvrete%20et%20Exclusion%20sociale.pdf
Pour de plus amples
informations veuillez contacter le secrétariat de SME:
info@mhe-sme.org, +32 2
280 04 68.
Mental Health Europe - Santé
Mentale Europe aisbl
Boulevard Clovis 7, B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel: +32-2-280 04 68 - Fax: +32-2-280 16 04
E-mail: info@mhe-sme.org
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