Event highlights
The QualityRights training workshop in Yerevan, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST), brought together policy leaders, mental health professionals and social service providers from Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. The training was aimed at advancing human rights, promoting recovery-oriented mental health care and reducing coercion in service delivery.
Participants engaged in interactive sessions, role-plays and case-based discussions led by experts and people with lived experience of mental health conditions. The programme focused on practical approaches, including de-escalation techniques, recovery planning and strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. All respondents rated the training 4 out of 4 stars for both content and the skills gained. Many highlighted the strength of the interactive methodology and the inclusion of lived experience as central to the learning process.
One participant noted, “I appreciated the focus on patients’ rights and the interactive format, along with practical examples and explanations from the person with lived experience.”
Others reflected on the openness and exchange fostered during the sessions, “All the topics were interesting, including the concept that people with lived experience were free to share their experience and participants were comfortable and relaxed to express their opinions. The examples from other countries were also extremely useful.”
Participants also emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to address stigma, strengthen recovery planning and apply de-escalation techniques in clinical practice to improve everyday care.
Suggestions for future trainings included expanding participation to broader multidisciplinary teams, incorporating additional hands-on exercises and exploring comparative legal and policy frameworks in mental health care.
As part of the ongoing DG ENEST collaboration and in view of the success of this capacity-building initiative, WHO/Europe will follow up with participants to assess how the knowledge and skills acquired are being implemented in their respective contexts.
Recovery-oriented, rights-based mental health care is a cornerstone of effective mental health systems and overall health system resilience. WHO/Euope remains committed to supporting Member States in building person-centred, equitable and rights-respecting mental health services for all.
Event notice
As part of the “Support for health resilience in the Eastern Partnership” programme, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST), WHO/Europe will conduct a WHO QualityRights training workshop in Yerevan, Armenia, on 17–19 September 2025 on human rights, recovery and coercion-free mental health care.
Participants will include mental health professionals, service managers, representatives of associations, people with lived experience, and other key stakeholders from Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.
Why a training on QualityRights?
In many countries, people with mental health conditions and psychosocial, intellectual or cognitive disabilities face stigma, harmful treatment practices, neglect and abuse. Too often, they are detained against their will, treated without consent, and excluded from opportunities to live independently, access education or participate fully in community life.
The WHO QualityRights initiative addresses these challenges by promoting a shift in mental health care, one that is grounded in human rights and recovery. Recovery is not only about clinical improvement, but about supporting people to live meaningful lives, with autonomy, purpose and connection.
This 3-day training will introduce participants to the principles of WHO’s QualityRights initiative:
- promoting a new approach to mental health care that is rights-based and recovery-oriented;
- supporting services to move away from coercion and institutionalization, and towards community-based, person-centred care;
- building capacity to combat stigma, discrimination and social exclusion in mental health; and
- empowering people with lived experience to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lives.
This training will help participants understand how to create environments and services that foster recovery, uphold rights and eliminate coercive practices. It will also support countries in aligning their mental health systems with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Background
Within the framework of the DG ENEST collaboration “Support for health resilience in the Eastern Partnership”, WHO/Europe is supporting countries in building the skills and capacities of the health and care workforce, enabling them to expand access to quality, rights-based mental health care, and support service transformation across the region.