The World Psychiatric Association Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (WPA-CAP) section, supports the overall mission and goals of the WPA, in:

• Working with its members and partners around the world to promote child and adolescent mental health and to encourage the highest possible standards of clinical practice and ethical behavior in child and adolescent psychiatry.
  
• Contributing to education programs and research, meetings, and publications to increase knowledge about child and adolescent mental disorders and skills in addressing them.
  
• Disseminating knowledge about evidence-based therapy and values-based practice in child and adolescent psychiatry.
  
• Being a voice for the dignity and human rights of young patients and their families.
  
• Upholding the rights of child and adolescent psychiatrists where they may be challenged.

Under the leadership of the current Section Chair, Professor Anthony Guerrero (USA), the WPA-CAP section has convened work groups who represent multiple world regions, who publish papers in various international peer-reviewed journals (see below as a sample list), and who present at various international scientific forums, including the WPA, the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The work groups evaluate and optimize training and workforce development especially in parts of the world where child and adolescent psychiatrists are in short supply, address the needs of children and adolescents worldwide who are vulnerable to health and mental health disparities, and provide mutual support to colleagues worldwide as we face multiple challenges (including the COVID-19 pandemic) in common.

One of the most important activities of the section is a peer-reviewed e-journal, World Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (World CAP), which welcomes all international submissions and which is completely free to submit to, publish in, and read. World CAP has provided a forum for trainees throughout the world, for specialists in other disciplines, and for internationally renowned thought leaders in child and adolescent psychiatry to make their voices heard to the membership. It has published articles on child and adolescent psychiatric practice in the midst of scarce resources, on the mental health of indigenous youth, and on many other urgent and important topics.

For further details on the proud history of the WPA-CAP section, please refer to an excellent article by Professor Helmut Remschmidt (Germany) from the September 2020 issue of World CAP.