QualityRights Masters Training Program

Mental-health | October 30, 2025

Transforming services, promoting rights   

The QualityRights Masters Training Program is a one-year pilot initiative led by CBM Global Disability Inclusion, funded by CBM Australia, and implemented in partnership with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC). 

Rooted in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) QualityRights Initiative, this program aims to revolutionise mental health care across the Asia-Pacific region by promoting human rights, dignity, and inclusive, person-centred support. 

Why QualityRights? 

People with psychosocial, intellectual, or cognitive disabilities often face systemic discrimination, coercion, and exclusion. Many are subjected to inhumane treatment, institutionalisation, and denial of basic rights such as education, employment, and community participation.  

The WHO’s QualityRights Initiative addresses these injustices by: 

  • Promoting rights-based, recovery-oriented mental health care  
  • Supporting the reform of national policies and legislation in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) 
  • Building capacity to combat stigma and discrimination 
  • Encouraging community-based services that respect human rights 
  • Empowering people with lived experience to participate in shaping services and policies 

QualityRights uses evidence-based training materials, guidance and tools which are freely available.  

About the Masters Training Program 

This program goes beyond traditional training-of-trainers (ToT) models. It is a Masters Training of Trainers (MToT) approach, designed to develop a regional pool of expert trainers who can mentor and build the capacity of future trainers in rights-based mental health services and supports. 

Key objectives 

  • Strengthen rights-based mental health services and supports in the Asia-Pacific region 
  • Build a diverse network of QualityRights Master Trainers from government, civil society, and community sectors, including
  • Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs) 
  • Promote inclusive facilitation and hybrid training delivery using WHO’s e-learning modules 

Program structure and timeline 

The program includes a blend of online and in-person components: 

  • October 2025: Preliminary online sessions 
  • November 2025: Online post-training supervision (Part 1) 
  • January 2026: Online post-training supervision (Part 2) 
  • February-May 2026: In-person TOT-practicums in the Philippines and Fiji 

Participants will also complete the WHO QualityRights e-learning course, which is free and globally accessible. 

What participants will gain 

  • Certification as a QualityRights Master Trainer 
  • Skills to deliver inclusive, hybrid training using the WHO’s e-modules 
  • Opportunities to serve as resource speakers and mentors 
  • A role in shaping the future of mental health care in their communities 

Learn more about our mental health field programs.

For more information contact the Project Team: programs@cbm.org.au

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