Africa at the Centre of Global Mental Health Conference 2027
A landmark international conference bringing together leaders, researchers, policymakers, and innovators to shape the future of mental health in Africa and beyond.
Proudly hosted by CHUSS
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS) at Makerere University (opens in a new tab) hosts ACGMHC 2027, bringing together researchers, practitioners, policymakers and communities from across Africa and the world.
Mark Your Calendar
Mental Health Cannot Wait
people in Africa live with mental health conditions
receive adequate care
Public Health Systems
Reimagining health systems to integrate mental wellness at the primary care level.
Policy Agendas
Influencing continental and global frameworks to prioritize mental health equity.
Investment Priorities
Mobilizing resources from public and private sectors for scalable interventions.
To reposition Africa not as a passive recipient of global mental health knowledge, but as a leader in generating scalable, community-driven and contextually grounded solutions.
The conference seeks to shift global mental health conversations from extractive models toward:
- 01African-led knowledge production
- 02Community-driven implementation
- 03Equitable partnerships
- 04Sustainable systems transformation
Three Big Questions.
Thirty Areas of Action.
The conference consolidates its vision into three major themes: equitable systems, African-led innovation, and culture, resilience and social healing.
01 · EquityStrengthening Equitable and Community-Based SystemsAccess, workforce, financing, policy, primary healthcare, humanitarian mental health and systems strengthening.
What if mental health care started in the community, not the hospital?
Fewer than one in ten people who need care receive it. This theme asks how care can reach people where they already are: in clinics, classrooms, workplaces, camps and villages.
African communities already hold strong bonds of care. Come and see how they are being built into health systems that are fairer, closer to home and made to last.
02 · InnovationInnovation, Technology and African-Led SolutionsDigital mental health, AI, implementation science, research, data and scalable models.
What if the next breakthrough in mental health came from Africa?
Digital tools, AI and new research are changing how care is delivered, yet too many people are still left out. This theme asks how African-led ideas can reach the people that systems have missed.
Africa is not only receiving solutions from elsewhere. Explore the homegrown, scalable models that could travel the world.
03 · ResilienceCulture, Resilience and Social HealingBelonging, cultural identity, trauma, spirituality, arts and collective healing.
What can we learn from how communities heal together?
Across Africa, families and communities face trauma, loss and change and still hold on to belonging and hope. This theme looks at how culture, faith, arts and togetherness support recovery.
Discover the African ways of caring, from collective healing to shared identity, that deserve a central place in mental health care.
A truly cross-sector gathering.
Join 500+ delegates expected from across Africa and the world.
Bring Your Work
Share your research, practice and lived experience with a continental audience.
- Researchers & academics
- Students & trainees
- Mental health practitioners
- Psychologists & psychiatrists
- Counsellors & social workers
- Peer supporters & lay counsellors
- Service users & advocates
- Youth leaders
- Community organisations
- Digital innovators
Bring Your Support
Help turn evidence into policy, partnerships and lasting investment.
- Government ministries & policymakers
- NGOs & implementation partners
- Funders & development partners
- Humanitarian & refugee responders
- Faith & cultural leaders
- Private sector
Evidence meets the will to act.
Join us in Kampala as a participant, presenter, partner, donor, policymaker, researcher, practitioner or community voice.