Open Society Mental Health Initiative

| 2005 Activities |

The Open Society Mental Health Initiative (MHI) aims to ensure that people with mental disabilities (mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities) are able to live as equal citizens in the community and to participate in society with full respect for their human rights. The focus of MHI’s activities is to end the unjustified and inappropriate institutionalization of people with mental disabilities by advocating for the closure of institutions and the development of community-based alternatives. The initiative works in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

MHI’s key goals are:

• Capacity-Building: promoting the capacity of people with mental disabilities and the organizations that represent them to participate meaningfully in policy and service development.
• Promoting Access to Education: supporting policy reform in education and provision of inclusive educational services.
• Advocating for Government Commitment: advocating for the creation of financing mechanisms that support inclusive policies.
• Raising Public Awareness: challenging the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental disabilities by providing information and resources on mental disability and human rights issues.

MHI maintains its own separate website at www.osmhi.org.