We were proudly represented by Dr. Mary Mwanyika Sando (Chief Executive Officer) and Dr. Innocent Yusufu (Research and Programs Manager) at two key regional and global convenings held in Cape Town, South Africa: The Gathering (November 8–9, 2025) and the 7th Global Mental Health Summit (November 10–12, 2025).

The Gathering

Held at the Protea Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town, The Gathering was organized by Being Eastern Mediterranean, Romania, and Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Hubs, in collaboration with Orygen Global under the Being Learning and Support Network. The convening brought together youth mental health innovators, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders from across the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa to connect, learn, and co-create sustainable solutions for youth mental health.

The event served as a regional platform for exchange and collaboration, enabling participants to strengthen their capacity, share lessons, and advance the scale-up of youth-led, community-based initiatives. Its mission, to empower innovators and strengthen mental health ecosystems through collaboration, strongly aligns with AAPH’s vision to bridge research, policy, and practice for improved public mental health outcomes in Africa.

Representing AAPH, Dr. Innocent Yusufu engaged in learning sessions, dialogues, and network-building activities, reaffirming AAPH’s role as a regional catalyst for strengthening youth mental health systems.

The 7th Global Mental Health Summit

Following The Gathering, the 7th Global Mental Health Summit took place from November 10–12, 2025, also in Cape Town. The summit convened global leaders, practitioners, researchers, and advocates to discuss emerging trends and collaborative models in advancing mental health worldwide.

During the summit, Dr. Mary Mwanyika Sando participated as a panellist in a high-level Fondation Botnar symposium titled “From Evidence to Action: Collaborative Models for Transforming Youth Mental Health.” The session, moderated by Aline Cossy-Ganter from Fondation Botnar (Switzerland), featured distinguished speakers including Nicole Bardikoff (Grand Challenges Canada, Canada), Aviwe Funani (United for Global Mental Health, South Africa), Kamyla Marvi Tapal (British Asian Trust, Pakistan), and Usman Hamdani (Global Institute of Human Development, Pakistan).

As the Ecosystem Catalyst Lead in Tanzania, Dr. Mary Mwanyika Sando elaborated on the Being Initiative on mental health prevention and promotion highlighting on three key areas of focus; strengthening leadership, governance and coordination, improving planning, financing and mobilization of resources and Evidence-based and integrated mental health prevention and promotion policies and guidelines are envisioned to drive sustainable change. The Being Ecosystem Catalytic project involves strengthening networks, structures, and processes among stakeholders to ensure that national-level actions effectively translate to community impact.

Looking Ahead

Across both events, a common message resonated: youth mental health requires collective commitment, between governments, civil society, researchers, and young people themselves. For AAPH, participating in The Gathering and The Global Mental Health Summit reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to building stronger, youth-centered, and evidence-driven mental health ecosystems across Africa.