News From the Region (Last Updated On: ) Africa Mental Health Promotion Project MHASISA (Mental Health Action Strategies in Southern Africa for Persons with Disabilities) is a three-year project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association and four African partner organizations: the WFMH African Regional Council, the Mental Health Association of Zambia, the South African Federation for Mental Health, and the Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health. The basic goal is to promote the capacity of the MHAs in sub-Saharan countries to provide leadership in mental health and human services. The objective is to strengthen the four mental health associations to better serve their communities and to contribute towards sustainable and democratic development. In April 2000 the first phase of the project was launched by a field visit to the four African partners by Edward J. Pennington, general director of the Canadian Metal Health Association. As the WFMH Regional Vice President for North America, Mr. Penningtons plea to mental health leaders in developed countries is to pursue opportunities with their own oversease aid sources to assist the development of mental health services and programs in developing countries. “There is a crying need to help our colleague organizations in the Third World,” he says. “Now is the time to take advantage of our new knowledge of world-wide mental health needs and to find the resources to promote civil society issues in the mental health field.” CIDAs approval is conditional on each partner reviewing its goals and objectives, and establishing a results-based management approach to performance reporting within the first six months. The purpose of Edward Penningtons visit was to communicate these requirements to the African partners and help them decide how to meet them. WFMH African Regional Council The project objectives are as follows: To immediately establish contact with persons and organizations interested or working in mental health services in all African countries. To strengthen the weak existing national mental health associations and to establish new ones where they do not exist. To hold an all-African regional conference. The CMHA delegate discussed the development of the ARC with mental health leaders in each of the three countries he visited. He also met with a group of senior ARC volunteers in Lusaka, including the president, Isaac Mwendapole (a mental health volunteer for over twenty years, and a former WFMH Regional Vice President for Africa), and the treasurer, Malvuto Tembo. Mental Health Association of Zambia The project objectives are: To organize planning exercises for the National Board of Directors which will provide nationwide leadership in promoting the project objectives. To plan a national event for the member organizations of MHAZ which will address issues and provide strategies for positive change in Zambian society. To initiate community development work with branch volunteers in the MHAZ priority areas of women, consumers and families, youth and children. The Government of Zambia has created a senior position in the Central Board of Health, the Mental Health Specialist. The post is held by John Mayeya, who participated in most of the meetings during the CMHA field visit. Mr. Mwendapole, who is the vice president of MHAZ, and Petronella Mayeya, the honorary secretary of the local organization, accompanied the CMHA general director on his appointments with senior government officials. MHAZ president Justice Ernest Sakala and treasurer Humphrey Zimba also attended the meetings. The discussions included broad health issues facing Zambian society, such as HIV-AIDS, physical and sexual assault of women and children, tuberculosis, access to and cost of drugs, and also socio-economic issues such as the incredible number of orphans in the country who have lost their parents to the AIDS virus, the high poverty levels, the inadequate levels of housing, and general lack of community services. South African Federation for Mental Health The project objectives are: To strengthen the capacity of the South African Federation for Mental Health and its affiliated societies to fulfil their objectives in their most severely under-resourced areas. To plan and implement community development activities in certain pilot site communities. To create training programs and learning opportunities for citizens in the underdeveloped settlements to promote leadership skills. The senior SAFMH staff have also identified the need for the development of training tools at the National Directorate which can be used throughout the country for a variety of capacity-building and skill development programs. The CMHA representative met with the SAFMH national director, Lage Vitus, and the national deputy director, Driekie Moutinho, and visited two regional Mental Health Societies, in Mpulumalanga and in the Northern Province. Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health The project objectives are as follows: To strengthen the capacity of the Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health to fulfil its leadership role. To organize a national conference on mental health to promote greater communication among affiliates in the field of mental health. To organize provincial workshops. The ZIMNAMH executive director Elizabeth Matare arranged a full program of appointments for the CMHA representative despite unrest in Zimbabwe at the time of his visit. The organizations executive members held a special meeting to discuss the terms of the project with him. The difficult political circumstances are inextricably linked to the countrys poor economic situation. ZIMNAMH is adversely affected by personnel costs, fuel shortages, and poor market conditions for its workshop and farm products. It has several income sources, including corporate donations, but they are all very modest and none guaranteed for more than a year at a time. Grantsmanship For organizations in developed countries interested in pursuing their own partnership projects, a limited number of copies of the 46-page project description are available on request from the Canadian Mental Health Association, fax (416) 484 7750 or email [email protected]. Please note that CMHA is not eligible to apply for any additional grants or contributions from CIDA and regrets its inability to forge new partnerships at the present time. Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean Organization of African Unity (OAU) Third Expert Group Meeting on Drug Control & Demand Reduction Algiers, Algeria, 14-16 February 2000 This Third Expert Group Meeting was organized in Algeria by the OAU Secretariat as part of a project on capacity building to implement a plan of action on drug abuse and illicit trafficking in drugs in Africa. WFMH was represented by its President, Ahmed El Azayem. The Arab Federation of NGOs for the Prevention of Substance Abuse (AFANDA) was represented by its Secretary General Khaled El-Saleh (Kuwait) and board members Col. Hany El-Ghanam (Egypt) and Mamdouh Gabr (Palestinian Authority), who is also a WFMH board member. The meeting reviewed reports from twelve African countries describing their strategies to control the drug problem. The reports made it clear that cannabis is the drug most used and abused on the continent. The participants divided into two groups to consider drug control and drug demand reduction. The creation of a special OAU department on drug policy was recommended, and it was also proposed that action programs should target women because of their major role in society. Many of those present stressed the important role of NGOs in working in the community to prevent substance abuse and to rehabilitate drug addicts. They suggested that OAU should have a special committee for NGOs.