Mental Health and Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/36/13No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2017.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2016–2026

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/61/18

2026A/HRC/RES/61/18Mental health and human rightsLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/52/12Mental health and human rightsCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/43/13Mental health and human rightsCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/36/13Mental health and human rightsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/32/18Mental health and human rights

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Anti-Discrimination Measures Capacity Building Consultations Health Policy Human Rights Human Rights Education Human Rights Policy Mental Health Mental Health Services Persons with Mental Disabilities

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on mental health and human rights;

Also takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health on the right of everyone to mental health;

Further takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of person with disabilities on the provision of different forms of rights-based support for persons with disabilities, including access to adequate decision-making support when seeking to make informed health-related choices;

Reaffirms the obligation of States to protect, promote and respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to ensure that policies and services related to mental health comply with international human rights norms;

Urges States to take active steps to fully integrate a human rights perspective into mental health and community services, and to adopt, implement, update, strengthen or monitor, as appropriate, all existing laws, policies and practices with a view to eliminating all forms of discrimination, stigma, prejudice, violence, abuse, social exclusion and segregation within that context, and to promote the right of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities to full inclusion and effective participation in society, on an equal basis with others;

Also urges States to address the underlying social, economic and environmental determinants of health and to address holistically the range of barriers arising from inequality and discrimination that impede the full enjoyment of human rights in the context of mental health;

Encourages States to take concrete steps towards recognizing the importance of addressing mental health by, inter alia, promoting the participation of all stakeholders in the development of public policies in this regard, promoting prevention and training programmes for social, health and other relevant professionals, integrating mental health services into primary and general health care, and providing effective mental health and other community-based services that protect, promote and respect the enjoyment of the rights to liberty and security of person and to live independently and be included in the community, on an equal basis with others;

Calls upon States to abandon all practices that fail to respect the rights, will and preferences of all persons, on an equal basis, and that lead to power imbalances, stigma and discrimination in mental health settings;

Urges States to develop community-based, people-centred services and supports that do not lead to overmedicalization and inappropriate treatments in, inter alia, the fields of clinical practice, policy, research, medical education and investment, and that do not fail to respect the autonomy, will and preferences of all persons;

Calls upon States to take all the measures necessary to ensure that health professionals provide care of the same quality to persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, in particular persons using mental health services, as to others, including on the basis of free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness of the human rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of these persons through training and the promulgation of ethical standards for public and private health care;

Strongly encourages States to support persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities to empower themselves in order to know and demand their rights, including through health and human rights literacy, to provide human rights education and training for health workers, police, law enforcement officers, prison staff and other relevant professions, with a special focus on non-discrimination, free and informed consent and respect for the will and preferences of all, confidentiality and privacy, and to exchange best practices in this regard;

Encourages States to promote the effective, full and meaningful participation of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities and their organizations in the design, implementation and monitoring of law, policies and programmes relevant to realizing the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of mental health;

Recognizes the need to promote the mainstreaming of a human rights perspective into mental health in all relevant public policies;

Encourages States to provide technical support and capacity-building through international cooperation to countries that develop and implement policies, plans, laws and services that promote and protect the human rights of persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, in accordance with the present resolution, in consultation with and with the consent of the countries concerned;

Requests the High Commissioner to organize a consultation lasting one and a half days, no later than during the seventy-first session of the World Health Assembly, to discuss all relevant issues and challenges pertaining to the fulfilment of a human rights perspective in mental health, the exchange of best practices and the implementation of technical guidance in this regard, including the initiatives of the World Health Organization on mental health and human rights, such as QualityRights;

Also requests the High Commissioner to provide the above-mentioned consultation with all the services and facilities necessary to fulfil its activities, including by making the discussions fully accessible to persons with disabilities;

Further requests the High Commissioner to invite to the consultation Member States and all other stakeholders, including relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, in particular the World Health Organization, the special procedures, in particular the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the treaty bodies, national human rights institutions and civil society, including persons with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, in particular persons using mental health services, and their organizations;

Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the outcome of the consultation, to be presented to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-ninth session, in which he identifies strategies to promote human rights in mental health and to eliminate discrimination, stigma, violence, coercion and abuse in this regard, including through education and the training of all stakeholder groups;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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