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SPECIAL SESSIONS
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The Geneva Prize and the Jean Delay Prize highlight the achievements for human rights and recognise exceptional
research in psychiatry.
Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry
The Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry
2017 is awarded to a non-governmental organi-
sation fighting for the rights of the mentally ill in
Guatemala, ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL
Founded in 2013, this organisation is at present the only
NGO in Guatemala working to assist the access of the
indigenous rural population to psychiatric care.
The Geneva Prize Jury particularly valued the work from
among 15 candidates comprised of individuals, institu-
tions and NGOs. The President of the Jury, Luc Ciompi,
Professor Emeritus of the Department of Social Psychi-
atry, University of Bern, Switzerland, drew attention to
the fact that ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL works in a
particularly defavourised region of the world, dominat-
ed by poverty and violence and ravaged by a long civil
war and by natural catastrophes (hurricanes). The Jury
considered that the work of ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL
is courageous because of the real dangers which exist to
those involved. This NGO has been successfully fighting
for human rights in Guatemala against the stigma and
discrimination from which the mentally ill suffer – thus
fulfilling the specific objectives of the Geneva Prize.
The Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry was
created in 1999 in Geneva, Switzerland on the occasion
of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. In 2017 the 20,000 Swiss francs' Prize
will be awarded for the 7
th
time and will be presented to
ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL in Berlin in October 2017,
on the occasion of the 17
th
World Congress of Psychiatry.
The Board of Foundation of the Geneva Prize for Hu-
man Rights in Psychiatry is presided by François Ferrero,
Professor Emeritus, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
The Jury of the 2017 Prize comprised international per-
sonalities:
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»
Marianne Kastrup, Denmark
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»
Elisabeth Decrey-Warner, President of the Geneva
Call, Switzerland
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»
Dinesh Bhugra, President of the World Psychiatric
Association, United Kingdom
»
»
Pierre Vallon, President of the Swiss Federation of
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Switzerland
»
»
Robert Roth, Professor of Criminal Law, University of
Geneva, Switzerland
»
»
Olivier Vodoz, lawyer, former State Councillor, Geneva,
Switzerland
Award Ceremony: 12 Oct 2017
12:00– 13:00
|
Hall A8
Laudation:
François Ferrero, Switzerland
Dinesh Bhugra, United Kingdom
Laureate:
Jorge Alejandro Paiz Macz, Guatemala
Session: Closing Ceremony
Prize money: CHF 20,000
Awards
Recognition of excellent achievements