EU Project page - EU for Georgia

Mental Health and Human Rights: Promoting rights of people with mental disorders and psychosocial disabilities (PwMD) in Georgia.

Project Description

Protection of human rights is at the core of the EU programming in Georgia. This project is part of EU's HumanRights4All programme and addresses the rights of people with mental disorders and psychological disabilities (PwMD) – a group that is often overlooked by human rights activists. The project works to increase capacity, strengthen self-advocacy and raise awareness. It supports implementation of rights-based legislation and policies, and contributes to the resocialization of juveniles with mental health problems.

The project is focused on:
- Strengthening civil society movements: establishing a Mental Health and Human Rights (MHHR) Platform, policy dialogues on different rights
- Implementing media campaign, training and mobilization of media for MHHR
- Awareness-raising in various parts of Georgia (informative and sport activities)
- Analysing the Law on Psychiatry vis-à-vis CRPD standards; developing recommended revisions
- Piloting WHO mechanism of human rights and quality of care
- Piloting innovative programs for adolescents and young adults with emotional and behavioral problems and disorders, including addictive behaviors

Specific Objective

1. To protect rights of people with mental disorders and psychological disabilities (PwMD) through awareness-raising and capacity-building
2. To advocate for human rights-based legislation and introduce service quality assurance mechanisms
3. To support prevention of crime of people with mental disorders and psychological disabilities (PwMD) and support for resocialization.

Expected Results

- Rights and other emerging issues of PwMD placed on the political agenda of Georgia (2018-2020) and constantly lobbed by the strong Platform MH2R;
- Positive evident changes in budgets, laws and policies;
- 30% increase in access to modern community-based services for PwMD by 2020.
- 25% increase in total share of the programmes for mental health needs for PwMD by 2020
- 20% increase in the total budget of the National Program by 2019 and additional 20% by 2020.
- 90% increase in active engagement of CSOs and CBOs in the Platform work by 2018
- Increased knowledge of media about problems and needs of PwMD in targeted regions.
- 15 Community-based Protected Living Houses established for PwMD and to develop 15 other contemporary services for PwMD by 2010
- One new organization established for PwMD and active in self-advocacy by 2019.
- Amended Law on Mental Health that contains a paragraph on quality monitoring by 2019
- Improved Law on Mental Health that meets most important standards of CRPD by 2020
- Improved respect and better care of PwMD at 3 closed institutions in Tbilisi and Batumi based on monitoring of quality rights by 2019-2020
- Successful awareness raising campaigns resulting in acceptance and changed attitudes to PwMD and also children and adolescent with mental health and addiction problems.
- Improved child and adolescent services in Tbilisi and Batumi that meet the needs of children and adolescents with addiction problems by 2019
- Effective services that provide high quality support to juveniles and their families by 2020
- Strengthened chain of services under the Reform of Juvenile Justice by possibility of further replication of established preventive-intervention services by 2020.