The Ghana Somubi Dwumadie, has awarded evidence and effectiveness grants for mental health and disability inclusion to nine civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country.

This is to ensure that persons with disability, including mental health disabilities, are in the lead on approaches to improve their wellbeing, socio-economic outcomes, and rights.

A statement issued by the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the grants, totalling almost GHS 7,000,000, were funded by the United Kingdom Government through UK Aid.

It is made up of four large grants receiving up to GHS 600,000 per year for nearly three years, and five small grants of up to GHS 200,000 each for 12 months.

The statement said awardees would provide support and empower persons with disability (PWDs), including mental health disabilities, to participate fully in their communities and have their voices heard and incorporated in policies and programmes that affected them directly.

It said the nine recipients were a selection of organisations of PWDs, self-help groups and other CSOs working in the disability and mental health space in Ghana.

The statement said the support was in line with Ghana’s call for better disability inclusion and greater investment in mental health.

It said the new grant was expected to support in removing the barriers, which prevented PWDs, including people with mental health conditions, from reaching their full potentials.

The Ghana Somubi Dwumadie is a four-year programme with a specific focus on mental health, run by an Options’ led consortium consisting of BasicNeeds-Ghana, Kings College, London, Sightsavers International and Tropical Health.

It focuses on four key areas, two of which are; promoting stronger policies and systems that respect the rights of people with disability, including people with mental health disabilities, and scaling up high quality and accessible mental health services.

The other two are reducing stigma and discrimination against PWDs, including mental health disabilities, and generating evidence to inform policy and practice on the effectiveness of disability and mental health programmes and interventions.