4th Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum: Policy, Advocacy and Research Recommendations

The 4th Global Mental Health Advocacy Forum foregrounded a central message: mental health advocacy succeeds when it is grounded in power, history, and lived reality - not only in technical solutions. Across sessions, speakers consistently argued that mental health is shaped by structural inequities (colonisation, institutional racism, criminalisation, stigma, and economic exclusion), and that advocacy must therefore be designed as a systems and justice project, rooted in coalition building and integrated collaborations.

This short report outlines key policy, research and advocacy recommendations to support the work of mental health advocates globally.