World Federation for Mental Health: WFMH at the UN: NY Activities

STATEMENT BY MYRNA LACHENAL-MERRITT
REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N. FOR THE
WORLD FEDERATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH
AT THE 59 th SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, GENEVA
27 MARCH 2003
AGENDA ITEM 10: ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Madame Chairperson:

Thank you, Madame Chairperson, for giving me the
floor.

The WFMH, representing over 100 local and regional
mental health associations spanning all five continents, is very appreciative
of the report on “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health” submitted to the
Commission by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Paul Hunt, in accordance with
Commission Resolution 2002/31.

Indeed, since the proclamation of the “Principles
for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of
Mental Health Care” adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1991, it
is the first time that the Commission on Human Rights has addressed directly
and specifically the issues of human rights of persons with mental problems
(para. E of Mr.Hunt’s report).

For more than 50 years the WFMH, in pursuit of
its objectives of advocacy for mental health, including promotion, prevention,
treatment and rehabilitation, has cooperated closely with the Mental Health
Department of WHO. WHO initiatives for the 2001 World Health Day, under
the title “Close the Gap, Dare to Care,” the 2001 World Health
Report on Mental Health, “Mental Health – New Hope, New Understanding,” and
finally the “Mental Health Global Action Programme” constitute
landmarks in a common fight for improvement of mental health care and elimination
of stigma and discrimination still prevalent and too often associated with
mental and behavioral disorders, suffered by hundreds of millions of people
around the globe.

WFMH celebrated the 10 th anniversary of its own
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY global mental health education campaign on 10 October
2002 with the launching of a campaign on The Effects of Trauma and Violence
on Children and Adolescents . World Mental Health Day is now commemorated
in over 100 countries around the world through public awareness and education
activities, proclamations signed by heads of national and provincial governments,
public rallies and advocacy initiatives. These measures help to promote
positive mental and emotional health and serve to reduce the stigma and
discrimination that is still too often associated with mental and emotional
disorders. This year’s campaign addressed the effects that violence
and trauma – including war, terrorism, famine, poverty and displacement – have
on the emotional health of children and adolescents throughout the world.
It also promotes advocacy for the ratification and implementation of the
UN’s Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Finally, WFMH was a leader in advocating for the
establishment of a Non-Governmental Committee on Mental Health at the United
Nations in New York. It is working through that committee to support the
inclusion of issues relating to the human rights of persons with mental
and emotional disabilities in the proposed Convention on the Human Rights
of Persons with Disabilities that is now under consideration. WFMH strongly
urges that such a Convention be adopted and that the rights of persons
with mental and emotional disabilities be included in its agenda.

The World Federation for Mental Health commends
the Commission on Human Rights for its continued advocacy to protect and
preserve the human rights of all citizens throughout the world.

World Federation for Mental Health
P.O. Box 16810
Alexandria, Virginia 22302-0810
USA
1 703 797 1956
[email protected]
www.wfmh.org