East Africa is coming together to accelerate the scale-up of community-based mental health care.
Together, leaders, innovators, and advocates are driving forward scalable, sustainable solutions for mental health integration across every sector.
Thank you for joining us! Please see the program below.
This event is hosted by the Uganda Ministry of Health in partnership with StrongMinds and regional stakeholders
This year’s theme is “Community Action: Scalable Innovations for Mental Health Integration Across Sectors.”
Day One
7:30 – 8:55 AM | Arrival and Registration of Delegates
Anthems (Uganda & East Africa)
9:00- 9:05 AM | Voice of Lived Experience | Lived Experience
9:05- 9:10 AM | Spark the Day | Vincent Mujune – Country Director – StrongMinds Uganda
9:10- 9:15 AM | Welcome Remarks | Dr. Oyoo Charles Akia – Commissioner Non- Communicable Diseases MoH Uganda
9:15- 9:40 AM | Keynote Address: The Next Generation of Care: Decolonizing Mental Health and Harnessing Local Resources for Community Resilience | Dr. Martin Baluku, Dean of School of Psychology Makerere University-Uganda
9:40- 10:05 AM | Chief Guest Address and Official Opening | Rt. Hon. Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga – First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Affairs
10:05 – 10:35 AM | Mental Health Break and Networking
10:40 – 11:40 AM | Regional framing: State of Community Mental Health Services in the East African Region (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania) | Session chair: Dr. Juliana Busasi, Executive Director, Tanzania Medical and Health Foundation
- State of community mental health services in Uganda – Burden, policy, laws, structures, actors, successes, gaps, lessons — Dr. Hafsa Lukwata Sentongo, Assistant Commissioner Mental Health and Control of Substance Abuse
- State of community mental health services in Kenya – Burden, policy, laws, structures, actors, successes, gaps, lessons — Dr. Mercy Wachera Karanja, Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of Mental Health Division – MoH Kenya
- State of community mental health services in Tanzania – Burden, policy, laws, structures, actors, successes, gaps, lessons — Deborah Luabano, Ministry of Health United Republic of Tanzania
5 Minutes | Mental Health Break
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM | Integrating Mental Health into Primary Healthcare: Strengthening the Frontline for Accessible, Equitable, and Sustainable Care 1:00 – 1:50pm Session Chair: Dr. Kalani Kenneth, Psychiatric and Senior Medical Officer MoH
- Strengthening Frontline Capacity – The Role of Health Workers in Screening, Early Intervention, and Referral Pathways — Brian Mutamba Deputy Director, Butabika National Referral Hospital
- Task–Sharing for Scale – Leveraging CHEWs, VHTs, and People with Lived Experience (Peer) to Integrate Mental Health at Community Level — Dr. Upentho George DuGuMm, Commissioner Community Health, MoH
- Safeguarding Quality – Standards and Compliance for Community-Based Mental Health Services — Dr. Ssendyona Martin, Commissioner Health Services, SCAPP – MOH
- Community-Driven Quality Assurance- Harnessing Local Structures to Strengthen Mental Health Service Delivery — Teresia W. Kariuki, Head of Community Health Services, Kiambu County – Kenya
- Evidence-based perspective to mental health integration in PHC. What has worked? What has not worked? Why is uptake still low? — Innocent Yusufu, MD, MSc Senior Research and Program Officer, Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH)
1:00 – 1:50 PM | Lunch Break & Networking
1:50 – 2:00 PM | Energizer | Soul Foundation – Dance Therapy
2:00 – 3:00 PM | Community Action in Crisis & Humanitarian Settings: Crisis and humanitarian settings demand integrated, community-driven mental health and psychosocial support to protect and strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable. | Session Chair: Office of the Prime Minister, Uganda
- Current landscape for the refugee response in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – Dr. Ronald Nyakoojo, Associate Public Health Officer UNHCR – Uganda.
- MHPSS in Emergencies and Building Resilience in Refugee Settlements – Ms. Grace Obalim Ojara, – MHPSS Advisor – Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO)
- Mental Health Support in Crisis: Lessons from Rwanda Genocide & Uganda’s Children Born in Captivity – Dr. Philbert Kalisa (REACH Rwanda) & Marini Gabriele (CVT Uganda)
- Supporting recovery from trauma in the community – Experiences from Tutapona – Uganda – Ms. Sara Juuko – Country Director, Tutapona Uganda
- Role of community based MHPSS in crisis and disaster affected communities-A case of Bulambuli emergency as a result of Landslide in the Elgon Region – Mr. James Parry Wamutu, In-charge Bulambuli Response, Uganda Redcross Society
2:40 – 3:40 PM | Community – Led Mental Health Initiatives and Alternative Care Options: Strong community, faith, and cultural systems anchor sustainable mental health responses. | Session Chair: Session Chair: Stella Waruinge – Head – Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Services | Nairobi County
- Perspectives of Complementary and Alternative Mental Health Service Providers – Dr. Birabwa Harriet, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Clinical Department at Butabika National Psychiatric Referral Hospital.
- Adapting Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referrals: Leveraging Lessons from Alcohol Intervention Programs to Build Scalable, Integrated Behavioural Health Services – Dr. Kalema, Safer Implementation Officer WHO Uganda
- Equipping faith-based leaders with appropriate MHPSS tools to support community meaningfully – Pr. Alan Kajumba from Church of God, Kamwokya Community shares his experience as a StrongMinds Community Volunteer.
- Role of cultural institutions in delivering community-based mental health care – Owekitiibwa Christine Mugerwa, Representative Buganda Kingdom – Nabagereka Foundation
3:40 – 4:00 PM | Recommendations from sessions ahead of the declarations | Rapporteur
4:00 PM | Closure of Day One
Day Two
7:30 – 8:00 AM | Registration of Delegates
8:00 – 9:00 AM | Closed Session | Regional Breakfast Meeting
9:00- 9:10 AM | Feedback session from Day One | IAmUncleMO
9:00 – 9:10 AM | Takeaways from United Nations General Assembly 4th High Level Meeting New York September 2025: Lessons and Opportunities for Scaling Community Mental Health Interventions in East Africa| Session: Faith Nassozi Kyateka, Communications Consultant United for Global Mental Health
9:10 – 9:30 AM | Remarks welcoming delegates to the East Africa Mental Health Summit 2025 (MoH policy position direction on community health) | Dr. Olaro- Director General MoH Uganda
9:30 – 10:30 AM | Policy, Financing, coordination & Governance: Strong policies and financing ensure long-term sustainability of mental health systems | Session Chair: Ms. Sophie Kyagulanyi, Deputy Executive Director, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG)
- The Geopolitics on Mental Health financing – Faith Nassozi Kyateka, Communications Consultant United for Global Mental Health – Policy Advocacy, Financing. Global Mental Health Action Network
- Domestic funding and Universal Health Coverage – Fatia Kanyange, Executive Director, Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, CEHURD, Uganda
- Regional policy harmonization for Equitable Mental Health Care – Hon. Gerald Siranda, East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) (Online)
- Corporate financing for mental health services – Including Mental Health Care inside the Environmental Social and Governance agenda – Ms. Florence Nabakiibi, Manager Life & Pensions, Insurance Company of East Africa.
10:30 – 11:50 AM | Mental Health Break
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM (Breakaway Session, Bunyoni Hall) | Community – Led Mental Health Initiatives and Alternative Care Options: Strong community, faith, and cultural systems anchor sustainable mental health responses | Session Chair: Session Chair: Stella Waruinge – Head – Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Services | Nairobi County
- Perspectives of Complementary and Alternative Mental Health Service Providers – Dr. Birabwa Harriet, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Clinical Department at Butabika National Psychiatric Referral Hospital
- Adapting Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referrals: Leveraging Lessons from Alcohol Intervention Programs to Build Scalable, Integrated Behavioural Health Services – Dr. Kalema, Safer Implementation Officer WHO Uganda
- Equipping faith-based leaders with appropriate MHPSS tools to support community meaningfully – Pr. Alan Kajumba from Church of God, Kamwokya Community shares his experience as a StrongMinds Community Volunteer
- Role of cultural institutions in delivering community-based mental health care – Owekitiibwa Christine Mugerwa, Representative Buganda Kingdom – Nabagereka Foundation
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM (Breakaway Session, ASWA Hall) | Mental Health in Education and Youth Development: Empowering Youth and Schools for resilience | Session Chair: Dr. Simon Kizito, Head of Research Makerere University School of Psychology
- Creating Safe Learning Environments: Building a Culture of Psychological Safety in East African Schools — Teddy Chimulwa Nabwire, UNESCO Uganda
- From Policy to Practice: Operationalizing MHPSS in Education Systems — Saidi Nsamba, MHPSS Focal Person, MOES
- Peer Power for Impact: Innovations in Peer-to-Peer Support to Scale School-Based MHPSS — Jackie Nafuna, Programme Manager, Mental Health Uganda
- Scaling Adolescent Mental Health Interventions Leveraging Teacher Facilitators and Peer Providers to Integrate Mental Health into School Systems – Teacher Facilitator
11:50 AM – 12:00 PM | Session Transition
12:00 – 12:50 PM (Breakaway Session, Bunyoni Hall) | Mental Health & Chronic Illness: Linking mental health with chronic illness care improves both health and social outcomes | Session Chair: Milly Katana, Chairperson SMU, Board of Directors.
- The Unified Continuum of Care: Integrating MHPSS and Palliative Holistic Care to Alleviate Suffering – Mark Donald Mwesiga Executive Director, Palliative Care Association of Uganda.
- An evidence-based perspective to MHPSS in HIV/AIDS care – Prof. Eugene Kinyanda
- Psychosocial support for NCDs – Dr. Rachael Kansiime Kanyangabo, Head MHPSS Pediatric Hematology, Oncology Services, Joint Clinical Research Centre.
12:00 – 12:50 PM (Breakaway Session, ASWA Hall)| Digital Health & Innovation: Technology can scale access to affordable and inclusive mental health care | Session Chair: Mr. Paul Mwirigi – Managing Director, Capital One Group
- Bridging the Gap: Deploying Scalable and Equitable Digital Mental Health Solutions for East Africa’s Youth and communities – Dr. Juliana Busasi, Executive Director, Tanzania Medical and Health Foundation
- Youth-Led Digital Innovation – Co-Designing Scalable Mental Health Solutions with Young People — Fabiola Ngamije, –Senior Service Designer, YLabs Rwanda.
- Mental Health & Artificial intelligence – Paul Katende, CEO/Founder, OTIC Group
- Integration into HMIS/eCHIS/DHIS – Dr. Paul Mbaka, Commissioner of Health Information. MOH Uganda
- Experiences delivering mental health services using digital and tele-health solutions – Mr. Douglas Kawekwa, Founder of MindLyfe Uganda Limited
- Digitalizing the community mental health services – Tiko’s experience with young people in Uganda & Kenya – Frank Kutensa – Mental Health Officer, Tiko Uganda
12:50 – 1:40 PM | Lunch
1:40 – 2:20 PM | Session theme: Workplace Mental Health: Workplace well-being drives productivity, dignity, and economic growth | Session Chair: Elizabeth Okello, President Uganda Counselling Association (UCA)
- Stress, burnout and selfcare for employees — Goldy Obama, Head of Human Resource & Training, Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE)
- Employee wellness programs – Head of Human Resource, ECOBANK Uganda
- Mental health support Initiatives – Informal Sector Perspective – Steven Odaro, Market Vendors Association, Uganda
2:20 – 2:40 PM | Journey to The Kampala Declaration Community Mental Health Integration in East Africa | John Muge Nyaboga- Director Health Programmes Machakos County
2:40 – 3:00 PM | Concluding remarks and next steps (Vote of thanks to delegates) | Ms. Milly Katana, Board Chairperson StrongMinds Uganda
3:00 – 3:20 PM | Closing Ceremony | State Minister of High Education – Ministry of Education and Sports
Networking and Departure at Leisure
Interested in Learning More About StrongMinds?
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Our Partnerships
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Our Advocacy
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