Human Rights

The WAPR Human Rights Committee was established during the presidency of Gabriele Rocca (2022-2025) and was masterfully coordinated by Michaela Amering. It has continued under the new president, Marianne Farkas, incorporating more members in order to try to balance geographical representation.

We are motivated and driven by the need to link all our activities with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its subsequent derivation and enrichment with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).

In the WAPR Human Rights Committee, we are convinced that the attention, support and care given to people with mental health problems from the perspective of their rights ensures that the relationships between professionals and those affected lead to their recovery.

We advocate for promoting respect, reciprocity and dialogue, and especially the discussion established in the “Trialogue” approach composed of social and health professionals, those affected, and their families. And finally, we advocate for the slogan “nothing for us without us” to become a reality.

We believe that viewing mental health from a dominant biological perspective not only limits the range of possibilities we have as citizens but also restricts the horizon of understanding and progress in our world, and that it is necessary to also consider contextual factors such as socioeconomic circumstances, marginalization and stigma, personal and generational trauma, and inter-relational factors This broader contextual framework of understanding also aligns with an opening of new pathways for treatment and recovery.

The Committee meets on a monthly to quarterly basis depending on the scope and immediacy of the work at hand, sometimes forming smaller work groups for specific projects. Recent efforts have included development of this webpage, advocacy for continued human rights – based practice development in global mental health policy, and efforts with articles and presentations, and recruitment of new membership. Please review recent articles in the Human Rights section of the WAPR Bulletins

The Committee includes people with lived experience (PWLE), family members, legal advocates, mental health professionals of several disciplines, and academicians involved in research and training of professionals.