We propose, review and influence laws and policies related to mental health and disability, and advocate for better care, treatment and rehabilitation of people who suffer from mental health problems.

The advocacy is guided by international declarations especially the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which came into force in 2008. The Convention sets out a wide range of rights including, among others, civil and political rights, the right to live in the community, participation and inclusion, education, health, employment and social protection.

Even before the CRPD the organisation had been involved in advocacy work including input into the Zimbabwe Mental Health Act which came into force in 2004 and is now due for a review to catch up with the latest human rights trends.

We work with policy makers and are currently pushing for a significant and specific allocation or vote for mental health in the country’s National Budget. The push is on the observation that there is no specific budget allocation for community mental health initiatives which gets its share from the global health budget whose attention is currently skewed towards central mental hospitals other elements of health. Community mental health remains a peripheral and under-resourced matter.

An article in the Daily News edition of May 10 2011 where ZIMANMH was urging the government to do more in terms of upholding the rights of persons with mental health conditions.