SUCCEED Sierra Leone concludes a 2-days Civil society engagement training on The Role of Research In influencing legislative Governance bill, policies, and community Action for the well-being of persons with Psychosocial Disability.24 Participants were drawn across the country. The engagement was held from the 16th to the 17th April 2026 inside the SUCCEED office located at the Fatima Campus Makeni City.
Like many participants, Emmanuel Duncan represented the Sierra Leone Mental Health Coalition. He, like many, said the engagement is a narrative that will shape the mental health landscape in Sierra Leone.
The Bombali District Human Rights Committee Secretary General, AlhajiConteh, participated in the 2-day engagement. Like many participants, Alhaji praised the SUCCEED Sierra Leone model from a mental health rights-based perspective. “SUCCEED Sierra Leone, acting in the best interests of the people affected by psychosocial disability,” Conteh said.
SUCCEED Sierra Leone is a six-year research project with a consortium of four African countries and supervised by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Michael Njenga said he learned a lot from various presentations by SUCCEED staff and from
the Kenyanlead facilitator, Michael Njenga,whose sessions were presented virtually, sharing the Kenyan experience on campaigning for 10 years for a new Kenyan Mental Health Law. He shared the Kenyan experience of engagement with a rights-based approach to mental health and psychosocial disability. He specifically focuses on Criminalizing attempted suicide in Kenya. “In Kenya, it is criminal to attempt suicide,” he said.
He explains how the Human Rights Commission of Kenya’s efforts to protect the human rights of all citizens succeeded in decriminalizing attempted suicide, highlighting an attempted suicide rate of 1442 Kenyans over a period of 3 years. “Attempted suicide. Stigmatizing the already vulnerable. Stakeholders advocate reforms through a coalition on mental health, including the criminalization of attempted suicide,” he said.
Michael said in Kenya, they formed coalitions, designed a communication strategy that utilized the Kenyan media landscape during the Campaign to decriminalize suicide.
In group sessions, participants recommended a parliamentary lobby and campaign, the Utilization of the Sierra Leone media landscape, and the development of a new communication strategy that would yield results in a new mental health law that would replace the 1902 lunacy act.
The SUCCEED Sierra Leone Program Manager, Veronica Kamara, said SUCCEED is an acronym that stands for Support, Comprehensive Care, and Empowerment of People with Psychosocial Disability in Sub-Saharan Africa. She said at the end of the training, participants should be ableto:Understand mental health policies, whata legislative bill is.Why the need for a mental health bill or policies to amend the Sierra Leon lunacy act of 1902? Understand what a mental health legislative bill is and its stages.Identify stakeholders of mental health in Sierra Leone and Inclusion in mental health programs for a policy strength. “The role SUCCEED is playing in the passing of the mental health bill through research,” she concluded.