MindMap Africa: Charting the African Mental Health Landscape for Immigrants and Asylum-Seekers 

Co-led by Professor Sharon Abramowitz and Professor Lahra Smith, MindMap Africa is a collaboration between the Center for Global Health Science and Security, the African Studies Program and the Global Mental Health and Well-Being Initiative at Georgetown University.

Mental health is a critical part of African immigration and asylum proceedings in countries worldwide. However, much of the information on mental health stigma, social conditions, healthcare systems, healthcare access, access to medications, and violations of human rights in health, criminal justice, education, and civil society is dated and under-developed. Despite these knowledge gaps, scholars and researchers are routinely called on to present updated information on precisely these domains of information to inform judicial proceedings, up to and including expert testimony; and to support the development and implementation of clinical, social welfare, and social protection decision-making.

MindMap Africa is building a consortium of Georgetown faculty who are working with researchers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Chad, DRC, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda to collect updated information and intelligence on mental  health conditions. We will be gathering evidence across the sociocultural, political, economic, health systems, and clinical landscape. Findings will be shared with the public, policy makers, NGOs, and the legal community in order to bring new knowledge, evidence, and analysis on global mental health and human rights to the public at large.