East African representatives sign Kampala mental health declaration
Representatives from Uganda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan signed the Kampala Declaration on Mental Health at the close of a regional summit in Uganda on Thursday, 22 October.
The declaration emerged from the second East African Mental Health Summit, which brought together government officials, civil-society groups and other regional participants. A public release issued on 23 October described the document as a shared commitment to make mental health a regional development priority. It is not, however, a binding East African Community policy, a law or a confirmed budget change.
A route towards regional policy
The declaration is intended to give partner states a common set of priorities while discussion continues about a possible regional mental health policy. Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Rebecca Kadaga, said the summit had concluded with the declaration and that she had instructed the East African Community’s secretary-general to begin policy discussions.
That distinction matters. A declaration can set a political direction and create a basis for cooperation, but it does not itself impose legal duties on member states. The stated next steps include national reviews, further regional discussion and annual progress reviews. Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda were expected to consider their position in their capitals after the summit.
The organiser has also described a longer-term path towards a regional policy and, ultimately, a possible East African Community mental health bill. No adopted policy text, legislative timetable or regional funding mechanism was announced with the signing.
Commitments focus on care closer to communities
The declaration places community-led services and primary health care at the centre of its approach. Its stated priorities include training and task-sharing with community health workers, reducing stigma, improving coordination across countries and building workforce capacity. It also points to the use of mental health indicators in national data systems and to cooperation on knowledge exchange.
Participants discussed how mental health support might be integrated into settings beyond specialist services, including schools, workplaces, emergency and humanitarian responses, and care for people with chronic illness. The programme also considered digital tools, but the commitments stress equitable access, privacy and human rights rather than a specific technology rollout.
The summit’s earlier programme reflected a concern that services across the region can be concentrated in cities or psychiatric institutions, leaving many rural communities with limited access. The declaration’s emphasis on primary care and local workers is intended to move support closer to where people live. It does not confirm that new services have begun or that staffing gaps have been filled.
Financing and implementation remain open questions
Among the stated ambitions is progressively increasing domestic mental-health financing to at least 2 per cent of national health budgets, alongside a dedicated budget line. That is a commitment rather than evidence that the target is currently funded or that any partner state has changed its spending plans.
The document also supports including people with lived experience in policy design and delivery, and calls for review of laws that criminalise attempted suicide in favour of care and support. How, or whether, those aims are reflected in national rules will depend on decisions by individual governments and legislatures.
The next test will be whether partner states align their own plans with the declaration and create the proposed regional platform for dialogue and monitoring. Progress is due to be reviewed annually, with the regional discussion set to continue before a ministerial mental-health summit planned for Kigali in 2027.
