As part of the #WhatWENeed 2025 campaign, we are sharing an anonymous blog titled ‘Lost Shadows’, alongside the author’s own words reflecting on their journey and the meaning behind this piece: Sharing my “Lost Shadows” journey, which is a raw reflection as a person given the label of bipolar disorder. Through this journey, I reclaim […]

In this #WhatWENeed blog, the Uganda National Self Advocacy Initiative (UNSAI) shows why Organizations of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities (OPDs) are not just participants but rights-holders with representative legitimacy. When OPDs are excluded from policy spaces—especially in rural contexts, decisions are made about people, not with them. The submission calls for sustained, flexible, trust-based investment

This #WhatWENeed submission shares insights from Japan’s DIARY Project, a user-driven initiative led by Porque in collaboration with Japan’s National Institute of Mental Health, grounded in the lived experiences of people with psychosocial and developmental disabilities affected by disasters. Importantly, the initiative “Inclusive Disaster Prevention Initiative Based on the Experiences of People with Mental Disabilities”

TCI Fellow Wang Shiou-Wu, Taiwan Mad Alliance, shares his journey from surviving coercive psychiatric care as a teenager to becoming a leading advocate for persons with psychosocial disabilities. As the founder of Taiwan’s first OPD led by persons with psychosocial disabilities, Wang has worked tirelessly to ensure that directly affected people are at the center

Below, we are sharing a set of recent resources that bring together movement updates and legislative developments, news about an international conference, and a joint regional statement issued through the Asia-Pacific Coalition on Deinstitutionalization in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Movement updates, legislation, and international advocacyThrough the newsletter link below, you

#WhatWeNeed is a time to reflect on the progress we’ve made—and the urgent work still ahead—to ensure dignity, equality, and justice for all. For people with psychosocial disabilities, these rights remain far from reality. Despite global commitments under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), systemic discrimination, violence, and exclusion persist. Why

As part of the #WhatWENeed campaign, Rejaul Karim Siddiquee, an Advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Founder & CEO of the Disability Law Clinic, writes about what persons with psychosocial disabilities need to truly access justice in the Global South, including Bangladesh. In this submission, he reflects on how access to justice is

For #WhatWENeed 2025, Monirul Islam, Human Rights Defender and Founder of the MindfulRights Project, reflects on the struggles of persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, who routinely face exclusion, violence, and discrimination. Society often ignores their pain, and systems meant to uphold their rights frequently fail. Monirul highlights that most survivors have no pathway to justice,

For #WhatWENeed 2025, Psychiatric Survivors Association (PSA) Fiji shares an in-depth reflection on how persons with psychosocial disabilities were enabled to take part meaningfully and contribute to Fij’s review of Mental Health Act. Their blog reflects on the Mental Health Act Review in Fiji and highlights a long-standing gap: persons with psychosocial disabilities have often

How are we reclaiming our rights? How are we redefining support? How are we ensuring that care never means control? For #WhatWeNeed 2025, Tina Minkowitz reflects on what a true human rights–based care and support agenda should look like. She challenges systems that still allow involuntary treatment and institutionalization, insisting that autonomy and legal capacity