Making Mental Health a Global Priority 

INTERNATIONAL CONSTITUENCY DEVELOPMENT
	Preston J. Garrison Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer
	Developing and sustaining a diverse, informed and committed international constituency to promote the vision, mission, and goals of the World Federation for Mental Health across the world has always been a key element of the Federation’s work. Throughout its 59-year history, WFMH has sought to engage individuals and organizations in the critical efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination that too often continue to serve as major barriers for people who could benefit from mental health services. Encouraging national governments to give appropriate and equal attention to building and sustaining adequate and appropriate mental health services systems to meet the needs of their citizens remains an unrealized task in too many countries – and required an organized and informed advocacy movement. Addressing, and having a positive influence on, major emerging issues of mental health public policy, service availability and delivery, and promotion of positive mental health and well-being around the world through building a strong, informed and effective global advocacy movement remains a high priority for WFMH as it nears the 60th anniversary of its organization.     MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS CONVENE FIRST ADVOCACY LEADERSHIP FORUM Leuven, Belgium 04 July 2007 Participants EUFAMI Ms. INGER NILSSON, President MR. KEVIN JONES, Secretary-General   GAMIAN-EUROPE Ms. RALUCA NICA, Immediate Past President Mr. YORAM COHEN, Vice-President       MENTAL HEALTH EUROPE (MHE)  Ms. MALGORZATA KMITA, President Ms. MARY VAN DIEVEL, Director   WORLD FEDERATION FOR MENTAL  HEALTH Mrs. SHONA STURGEON, President Mr. PRESTON GARRISON, Secretary General/Chief Executive Officer       WORLD FELLOWSHIP FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ALLIED DISORDERS (WFSAD) Dr. DALE JOHNSON, President TRISH RUEBOTTOM, Executive Director     Five international mental health organizations whose members represent more than 100 countries, met in Leuven, Belgium 02 – 04 July for the first Mental Health Advocacy Leadership Forum. The participating organizations were the European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI), the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks (GAMIAN-Europe), Mental Health Europe (MHE), the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), and the World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (WFSAD). Leadership of the participating organizations share the belief that this is an important time in the evolution of mental health treatment and services, public mental health policy, promotion, prevention and public awareness worldwide. The primary goal for organizing and convening the Forum was to provide a significant opportunity for organizations to build relationships and mutual understanding, explore a range of cross-cutting issues that can be effectively addressed through collaboration and cooperation, establish a basic plan and procedure for sharing of information among the organizations and their members/constituencies, and create opportunities to interact formally and informally to enhance their capacity to be heard on matters of importance to the global mental health community. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 450 million people worldwide are affected by a mental illness or mental health problems; yet, fewer that 4 in 10 will receive any intervention or support. In spite of these dire statistics, the gap continues to widen between the growing burden of disease caused by mental health problems and the amount of funding available to address them. The mental health movement faces a number of critical challenges, including the need to effectively counter persistent stigma and discrimination, and social exclusion, inadequate public policy addressing emotional well-being and mental disorders, inadequate funding for services to treat and prevent mental disorders and for mental health promotion and well-being, and the growing burden of disease resulting from mental disorders worldwide. These leading mental health NGOs recognize the importance of developing a more united global voice to promote effective action to address these and other important issues and to advance mental health as a global health priority. Among the areas discussed were reducing stigma, social exclusion and discrimination that remain major barriers for people affected by mental health problems, promoting recovery by encouraging greater identification and replication of good practices in mental health care, encouraging greater emphasis on the promotion of emotional well-being, increasing supports for families of those affected by mental illnesses in their daily lives, pressing for greater protection for the human rights and humane treatment of persons affected by mental disorders, and working collectively to create a more united global voice for advancement of mental health developments and priorities. The participants proposed a five-point plan of action through which to develop and sustain their collaborative efforts: To establish a mechanism for regular inter-organization communication and mutual support,   To work together in developing strategies for building a united global voice for mental health advocacy, promotion, and services,   To explore the development and adoption of jointly prepared position statements on selected major issues affecting the mental health sector,   To work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote a higher WHO priority for mental health and mental disorders, and   To make the Global Mental Health Advocacy Leadership Forum an annual gathering TOP