#WhatWENeed
Full CRPD Compliance on the Inclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities
Partners for reframing from MH to Inclusion, this International Mental Health Week, 2018[1]
Persons with psychosocial disabilities, users and survivors of psychiatry, people with “mad” identities and other identities thereof, are herewith calling for support to have our voices amplified through this International Mental Health Week, 2018 as we gear towards increasing our full and effective participation in communities that are inclusive. We also express our concerns over the spread of the medical model through the middle and low-income countries importing western models that we know have failed.
The medical model, proposed by the “Global Mental health Movement”, since the first Lancet issue in 2007, has set ablaze through Low and Middle Income Countries of the world (LMICs), with its regressive approach towards mental health and persons with psychosocial disabilities contrary of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD). This year, based on the non-compliant work of the Global Mental health Movement, the “Global MH Ministerial Summit” is being organized in London during the World Mental Health Week of 2018 by the UK Government, the WHO, and with several enabling agencies.
To our dismay, summit is being designed and conducted without participation of persons with psychosocial disabilities and users and survivors of psychiatry, opposing the very tenet of the CRPD that requires of persons with disabilities in matters concerning them, which in this case are persons with psychosocial disabilities. According to their website, a Lancet paper is promised to be released, which has aroused the ire of the movement of persons with psychosocial disabilities, their supporters and their allies, worldwide; but especially in the Low and Middle Income Countries, where such actions are predicted to have maximum impact.
The summit, we feel would undo, the significant development that has happened towards a rights based perspective for persons with psychosocial disabilities by the Reports from Special Rapporteur (Disabilities), statements from the Special Rapporteur (Health), the Mental health and human rights report (2018) from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the General Comments on Legal Capacity, Women, Living independently. Most recently, allied UN bodies have also issued very strong statements supporting moves to realize all human rights for persons with psychosocial disabilities. All these positive efforts have also been supported by far reaching policy changes worldwide, on enabling CRPD compliance.
In a deliberate response to those complex new developments worldwide, a “Bali Declaration” was issued by TCI Asia Pacific in August, 2018, affirming once again a call to CRPD commitment and reframing mental health in the direction of Inclusion. The “North driving the South” phenomenon has evoked strong counter response from TCI AP and allied organizations (from Africa and Latin America); especially when we know, that the western model of psychiatry, based on colonial practices of isolation, and coercion; and offering little more than medication, is a failure. The Declaration, in expresses alarm at the import of models and the impending violations in human rights, that needs more universal visibility and advocacy worldwide.
TCI AP is concerned that, the GMH movement is influencing the world in setting the lowest standard of the CRPD for persons with psychosocial disabilities. What we need instead is to be engaged in constructive actions of community development and not medicalisation as the solution. Our movement is thus creating new and continuing critical messaging, and advocacy with member states, reiterating our advocacy for full CRPD compliance and our right to live in the community. We believe that the answers are to be found in promoting policies of practices that have inclusion across services, in line with article 19, as core principle, process and outcomes.
Therefore, to counter the detrimental impact of the medical focused discussions that we see happening at the Global MH Ministerial Summit, TCI AP, will run an online campaign to have our voices hear from 1st October – 30th November 2018
We invite you to join us to collectively, across regions and boundaries, to express ourselves at,
You may link the campaign with your programmes for the International MH Week, by keeping us in the loop, so that we can partner with your efforts and synergise.
You may partner with the campaign, by sharing your organisation’s name, logo, or let us know how you want to be visible on the public platforms.
Or you may connect on
Twitter
1. Tweet messages on the topic. Do not forget to add #WhatWENeed @TCIAsia to your messages.
2. We encourage a photo-campaign with messaging for Twitter which you can Tweet yourself but if you do not have a twitter account or unable to open one, you may send your photos to us with a subject line ‘Twitter photo-campaign’
3. Please keep retweeting the tweets on #WhatWENeed
Facebook
1. Like our Facebook page ‘What We Need’
2. Post messages on the page
3. Share the messages from the page to your networks
Blog
1. Our Blog page is https://tciasiapacific.blogspot.com/do share with your networks
2. You may share a blog post with us with a word limit between 500 – 1200 words
3. You may share you blog in your national language
4. Blog post my be shared on tciasia.secretariat@gmail.com. Please write ‘Blog post’ as the subject of your mail.
If you are on Instagram, or other applications, keep us in the loop.
For any further details or doubt Contact at tciasia.secretariat@gmail.com