Mental Health & Human Rights – From Rights to Reality: Care Not Custody

This side event examines mental health laws and policies from a human-rights perspective across the life course and across settings. It will also launch the Care Not Custody campaign, which promotes human-rights-based mental health care, reduces stigma, and encourages the inclusion of people with lived experience in the development of mental health laws and policies.

The discussion is framed by recent Human Rights Council commitments on mental health and human rights, alongside OHCHR and WHO guidance on mental health legislation, policy, and strategic action plans.

Objectives include:

• Strengthening shared understanding of mental health as a human-rights issue across settings and for specific groups, including older persons.
• Examining cross-cutting challenges across law, policy, and practice.
• Identifying priorities requiring greater coherence across life-course approaches.
• Promoting collaboration among Member States, UN entities, people with lived experience, civil society, health experts, and other stakeholders.
• Launching the Care Not Custody campaign.

Format:

• Introductory video.
• Moderated panel and Q&A on translating the international human-rights framework for mental health into law and policy.
• Moderated panel and Q&A on institutionalisation, law, policy reform, and the Care Not Custody campaign.
• Campaign launch with a booth, video recording opportunities, and a campaign wall.