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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

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Ratification of human rights treaties and mental health reform in low-HDI countries: implications for rights-based system strengthening

HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY RATIFICATION AND MENTAL HEALTH REFORM IN LOW-HDI COUNTRIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR RIGHTS-BASED SYSTEMS STRENGTHENING

Formal ratification of human rights treaties in countries with low levels of human development is necessary but insufficient for mental health systems that respect human rights.

The study aims to examine how patterns of human rights treaty ratification intersect with development, poverty, and vulnerability, and to discuss their implications for mental health system reform. A descriptive review was conducted using 2023 Human Development Index (HDI) data; HDI was regressed against Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) data for the same year from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) datasets, after which the ratification status of nine core international human rights instruments was mapped across the 33 countries with the lowest HDI scores. Data from 101 countries were included in the regression analysis. HDI was strongly inversely associated with MPI (β = -0.722, p < 0.001) but only very weakly associated with MVI (β = -0.002, p = 0.008). Of the 33 countries with the lowest HDI scores, 12 had ratified all nine treaties; three treaties—ICCPR, ICESCR, and CRC—had been ratified by all 33 countries (100%), while the instruments with the lowest ratification rates were ICMW (45%) and CPED (38%); the remaining rates were ICERD 97%, CAT 94%, CEDAW 91%, and CRPD 91%. The authors conclude that fulfilling obligations in contexts of high MPI and MVI requires legal reform, budget allocation, and multisectoral investment addressing poverty, conflict, and environmental risks. From a clinical and policy perspective, the central challenge is to translate treaty ratification into adequately resourced, community-based mental health services.

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