In this #WhatWENeed blog, the Uganda National Self Advocacy Initiative (UNSAI) shows why Organizations of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities (OPDs) are not just participants but rights-holders with representative legitimacy. When OPDs are excluded from policy spaces—especially in rural contexts, decisions are made about people, not with them.
The submission calls for sustained, flexible, trust-based investment that strengthens OPD leadership, governance, and advocacy so lived experience can meaningfully shape laws, policies, and accountability. This is how rights move from paper to practice.
