Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry: 1998-2027

The Geneva Prize Foundation was created in 1998 in Geneva, Switzerland, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its aim is to promote equity, humanity, and the respect of human rights in the care of people with mental illness.

Every three years, the Prize honors an individual or an association which has distinguished itself in these pursuits.
The Foundation is supported by the Swiss Federation of Psychiatrists and Psychotherapists and by the Republic and Canton of Geneva. The ceremonies of the award of the Prize have been hosted by the WPA World Congresses of Psychiatry since 2008

2000 : Geneva Initiative on Psychiatry (Netherlands), now Global Initiative on Psychiatry. This NGO has consistently denounced and fought against the use of psychiatry for political purposes in the former USSR and other countries.

2002 : Hospital sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Congregation (Bolivia), who welcome and care for the mentally ill, and
Prof Roy Mc Clelland (Northern Ireland), author of important guidelines on patients’ rights shared the Prize.

2005 : Dr Jorge Pellegrini (Argentina), victim of the military dictatorship, showed exceptional commitment to the defense of human rights and conducted and promoted the reform of psychiatric institutions in Argentina.

2008 : Dr Semyon Gluzman (Ukraine), sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp for denouncing the forced psychiatric treatment of political dissidents in the former USSR. Dr Gluzman subsequently played a decisive role in the reform of his country’s psychiatric services and care.

2011 : Dr Naasson Munyandamutsa (Rwanda),was given the Prize for his exceptional work with survivors of the 1994 genocide, especially the children, and for his commitment to rebuilding Rwanda’s mental health network.

2014 : Dr Ka Sunbaunat (Cambodia), former victim of the Khmer-Rouge regime, was honored for developing mental health services that respect human rights. He is considered the father of psychiatry in his country.

2017 : Dr Alejandro Paiz (Guatemala), for his commitment and contributions to the fight against exclusion and stigmatization of indigenous communities in the highlands of the Andes and for the development of a mental health networks in his country.

2021 : Mr Grégoire Ahongbonon (Benin), Association Saint-Camille-de-Lellis. After having himself been hospitalized in a psychiatric facility he developed, without any training in medicine or psychiatry, a remarkable mental health network in Benin and in other West African Countries. He did it with the constant support of his wife Léontine. The association works in close collaboration with families and community leaders and relies very successfully on former patients as helping peers.

2024 : Mrs Valentina Hristakeva (Bulgaria) was born in Bulgaria and received a BC of Social Sciences. In 1998 she joined the Association of Reformers in Psychiatry and subsequently had several positions related to the Global Initiative of Psychiatry in Sofia, until she became the Executive Director of the Global Initiative in Sofia in 2002. Ms. Hristakeva has created an integrated user-focused community service and a model rights-based mental health service complex.

The Foundation encourages applications from both masculine and feminine candidates.

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