Dorcas Magai, Kenya

Dr Dorcas Magai is a clinical and developmental psychologist. She holds a PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychopathology from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She has a keen interest in unravelling the development of psychopathology in children and adolescents to establish personal, social, and biological risk factors for these conditions. Dr Magai is the Founder of Communities Mental Wellness, a non-profit organization that aims to raise mental health awareness and provide mental health services in marginalized settings. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and adolescents with mental health problems.

Although several African countries have developed legislation on mental health rights and service provisions, there is a risk of failure to implement existing rights and provision of services, partly due to a lack of awareness of mental health issues on the part of the public and some mental and public health professionals. This project aims to close this gap by raising awareness and providing mental health services in marginalized settings. The key objectives of my project are to promote mental health awareness in learning institutions and the general community, synthesize and disseminate evidence-based mental health information and promote mental health policy and advocacy. My main goal is to influence policy and legislation to decriminalize suicide and other inequalities experienced by individuals with mental illness. We aim to reduce inequalities experienced by individuals with mental illness by eliminating discriminatory laws and promoting laws decriminalizing suicide. With this, we hope to contribute to SDG 10 by ensuring that individuals in marginalized settings have equal opportunities to access information and services.