Fracarita International attended a meeting of the Blue Print Group for Global Mental Health in Genev

Mr. Prakash Goossens, International Advocate of Fracarita International, attended on Monday 11 February 2019 a joint advocacy and campaign meeting of the Blue Print Group on Global Mental Health in Geneva with the focus on how to bring advocacy closer to mental health projects so that local people feel involved with this world of International Advocacy.

The Congregation of the Brothers of Charity was founded in Ghent (Belgium) in 1807 and is very deeply rooted in the Belgian society and since then also in a lot of other countries. ‘There is no health without mental health’ is the baseline of their work in the numerous psychiatric centres. The Brothers of Charity work for more than 220 years in 30 countries to improve the situation of persons with mental health issues. Everywhere people are neglected, abandoned and discriminated due to their severe mental illness.

‘There is no health without mental health’ is translated into an international campaign ‘Breaking the chains of stigma in mental health’. This was initiated in 2012 and is combined with the Dr. Guislain Award ‘Breaking the Chains of Stigma’, an initiative of Janssen Research & Development and Museum Dr. Guislain.

Fracarita International is not only an implementation organization. It is in the first place an extension of the mission of the Congregation Brothers of Charity and this on the basis of the charism of the founder Peter Joseph Triest. Advocacy has always been part of that mission, both at national and international level. Mr. Prakash Goossens, International Advocate of Fracarita International, attended on Monday 11 February 2019 a joint advocacy and campaign meeting of the Blue Print Group for Global Mental Health in Geneva with the focus on how to bring advocacy closer to mental health projects so that local people feel involved with this world of International Advocacy.

It was the first time that Fracarita International was invited to this high-level group of experts in the field of mental health. The focus of Fracarita International is the elimination of stigma in mental health, starting from its own operations and campaign ‘Breaking the chains of stigma in mental health'. In advocacy, Fracarita International places a strong emphasis on cooperation with the WHO, academics, researchers and other organisations active in mental health. As a faith-based organization, Fracarita International emphasize human dignity, healing and compassion but with a strong approach based on human rights and quality of service. A holistic approach to the human being and not only looking at the 'patient' is very important.