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Reframing "#WhatWENeed" through the Bali Declaration


On the 29th of August, 2018, the 5th “Classic Edition” Plenary of the TCI Asia Pacific was held in Bali, Indonesia. At the Plenary, persons with psychosocial disabilities and their cross disability supporters from 21 countries of the Asia Pacific region came together to adopt the Bali Declaration.

The Bali Declaration is an amalgamation of the core of TCI Asia Pacific’s philosophy, aspirations and work. It comprehensively lists out the systematic violations of rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities by the medical model, looks towards an entire paradigm shift towards a social and development oriented model framed and rooted in the CRPD as opposed to a mental health and biomedical model, and confirms the failure of overarching legal, political, economic and social structures in ensuring equal participation and in promoting further exclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities. The Declaration welcomes efforts and shifts towards a more inclusive society with persons with psychosocial disabilities at the centre of all discussions, participation and engagements and aspires for persons with psychosocial disabilities to claim their meaningful place in society through inclusive environments.

The Bali Declaration not only calls for action the inclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities through “a paradigm shift and reframing of policy environment from medical model to social model; mental disorder to psychosocial disability; public health to inclusive development; institutionalization to inclusion; treatment to support systems, evoking the guidance of CRPD and the SDGs to bridge such reframing;” but recognises that “inclusive implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and the full realisation of human rights mutually reinforce each other.”

Please find below a list of the individuals and organisations that have endorsed the Bali Declaration.

Full text of the Bali Declaration here.


Individual Endorsements

1. Meenakshi Balasubramanian, India
2. Shreshtha Das, India
3. Lavanya Seshasayee, India
4. Joanna Marbaniang, India
5. Emmy Charissa, Singapore
6. Chan Sze-Wei, Singapore
7. Timothy Ng, Singapore
8. Robyn Yzelman, Singapore
9. Reetaza Chatterjee, Singapore
10. Aziz Reza, Bangladesh
11. Tien-Hsing Hao, Taiwan
12. Chintha Janaki Munasinghe, Sri Lanka
13. Matrika Devkota, Nepal
14. Cheung Hing Yee, Hong Kong
15. Zhuang Chao Frank, China
16. Tanjie, China
17. Yang Chouniu Linus, China
18. Anita Binti Abu Bakar, Malaysia
19. Pinky Kamchat, Thailand
20. Elizabth Harrington, UK
21. Angeline Maharaj, Fiji
22. Rakesh Chand, Fiji
23. Alvis Chand, Fiji
24. Undisclosed Name

Organisation Endorsements

25. Ha Giang Centre for Community Assistance, Vietnam
26. The Red Door, India
27. AccessAbility, India
28. Seher, Bapu Trust, India
29. Global Women’s Recovery Movement, India
30. CBR Network (South Asia)
31. USP Kenya, Kenya
32. Songket Alliance, Brunei
33. Harmony with Ultimate, Bangladesh
34. Mental Health Advocacy Association (MHAA), Bangladesh
35. Bangladesh Therapeutic Theatre Institute (BTTI), Bangladesh
36. Theatre Therapy Centre of the Disabled (TTCD), Bangladesh
37. Institute of Human Resource Development and Management (IHRDM), Bangladesh
38. Alliance of Urban DPOs in Chittagong (AUDC), Bangladesh
39. Unite Theatre for Social Action (UTSA), Bangladesh
40. Taiwan Gender Queer Rights Advocacy Alliance(TGQRAA)
41. Nidahas Chinthana Sansadaya (Southern Sri Lanka Consumer Action Forum), Sri Lanka
42. Consumer Action Network Mental Health (CANMH) Lanka, Sri Lanka
43. Koshish, Nepal
44. Disabilities CV, Hong Kong
45. Changsha Thanksgiving Mental Health Advocacy Centre, China
46. Japan National Group of Mentally Disabled People, Japan
47. Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA), Malaysia
48. Pacific Disability Forum, Fiji
49. Maldives Association of Physical Disables (MAPD), Maldives
50. Psycho-Social Disability Alliance, Pakistan

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