Analysing social inclusion - Second partners meeting, Paris, 10-11 March 2006
The second partners meeting took place on 10-11 March 2006 in Paris. Sogol Noorani, Project Coordinator, gave a presentation on the Social Inclusion Process in the EU. The key message was that the current European Social Inclusion Process based on the Open Method of Coordination and the NAPs/Inclusion (to be submitted in September 2006 covering the period 2006-2008) provides an important opportunity for mental health organisations to get their voices heard. It is therefore crucial for individual NGOs to raise political awareness of the social exclusion that people with mental health problems often have to face and to lobby national governments to include mental health organisations in the preparation of the NAPs/Inclusion in those areas that directly affect people with mental health problems.
The project partners presented their analysis of the situation of social exclusion of people with mental health problems in their countries based on independent research and discussions with various stakeholders such as representatives from the governmental, non-profit/NGO and private sectors. A common point in all reports was the lack of transparent communication, exchange of information and well-coordinated cooperation between the different stakeholders in all the partner countries, especially between the (ex)users of mental health services as well as their families and carers and NGOs on the one hand and governmental players on the other hand. The reports also highlighted that in all the partner countries good practices can be found in some areas (e.g. education, employment, housing etc.) as well as there are areas where services promoting the social inclusion of people with mental health problems are lacking - a finding which suggested that the project would offer a good opportunity for transnational exchange and mutual learning.