BasicNeeds BasicRights Kenya

We support people with, survivors of, and persons at increased risk of having mental health conditions to live successfully by facilitating access to mental health care and support services.

Mission statement

Our mission is to support people with, survivors of, and people at increased risk of having mental health conditions to live successfully by facilitating access to mental health care and support services.

Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya is a registered national Non-Governmental Organization that intervenes in mental health. Our main purpose is to support people with mental health conditions, those at risk, and their caregivers to live and work successfully in their communities. We strive to ensure that they access basic rights by empowering their communities to provide care, social support and avert adversity to those affected or at risk. Since our inception, we have distinguished ourselves as a leader in health and development, particularly mental health in Kenya.

To this end, we are implementing a model for mental health and development which takes a holistic approach to mental health care comprising elements of psychosocial support, community development and livelihoods, improving policy and practice through research and advocacy, and system strengthening. This is informed by our belief that addressing mental wellbeing and illness goes beyond just health systems, given that mental wellbeing and illness themselves are not simply health issues, but have social and economic causes and effects. Our interventions thus focus on the clinical, economic, and social wellbeing of individuals, as well as the resilience and wellbeing of their communities, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for people with mental health conditions.

Summary of relevant work

Preventive & Promotive Mental Health Services: Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya’s interventions support the aspirations of Sustainable Development Goal 3 to reduce Non-Communicable Diseases in Kenya through prevention and treatment of mental illness and promoting wellbeing. As is our standard practice, our programs place a strong emphasis on aiding early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illnesses. This is reinforced by proactive efforts in our various project areas to work with service users and their caregivers to challenge stigma and prejudice against people who have or are at risk of developing mental illnesses, because stigma has been shown to have a negative impact on treatment seeking behavior. Our interventions primarily adopt the Community Mental Health and Community Based Inclusive Development approaches.
Integration and Inclusion through Socio Economic Empowerment: Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya recognizes that better incomes have a direct positive impact on community mental health and wellbeing, and this is based on our belief that addressing mental wellbeing and illness goes beyond just health systems, given that mental wellbeing and illness themselves are not simply health issues, but have social and economic causes and effects. This is why our interventions focus on assisting people at risk of, or who have lived experience of mental health conditions, as well as their caregivers, to build resilience, improve their quality of life, achieve better economic outcomes, and increase their participation in community decision making. We have a particular emphasis on ensuring that women and youth as well as persons with disabilities are included in decision making within their communities.
Influencing Policy and Practice through Research and Advocacy: Evidence informed interventions have been a core consideration in our programming at Basic Needs Basic Rights Kenya as this has enabled us to continually strengthen our position as a thought and collaborative leader in the influencing of policy and practice in the mental health space. This has also enabled us to continue to grow our partnerships with stakeholders including the communities we work with, government and non-governmental agencies, and other Civil Society Organizations to advocate for as well as implement interventions that have long term sustainability.
Institutional Excellence: Our management team subscribes to the principle that quality is never an accident but rather the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skilful execution. This therefore underscores our organization’s commitment to invest on people development and process improvement, by continually building the capacity of our staff and board members through facilitating opportunities for skills development informed by organizational capacity assessments. This is meant to ensure that we have a strong team that delivers value to our donors, partners, beneficiaries and other stakeholders.

Key partners: