This policy paper has been developed under the European Commission (EC) funded project, “Monitoring Human Rights and Prevention of Torture in Closed Institutions: Prisons, Police Cells and Mental Health Care Institutions in Baltic Countries.”

The policy paper gives an overview of current developments in mental health care policy in all three Baltic countries and provides recommendations to move services toward the norm of least restrictive care and community-based services and away from institutions. Recommendations are geared to governments, institutions in the countries addressed, national and international human rights advocates, and private and public donors.

The text serves as a source of information for program planners, an advocacy guide for human rights organizations, and guidance for funds allocation for governments and donors.

The paper was developed by the following partner organizations: the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and its partner organizations, the Vilnius office of Global Initiative for Psychiatry, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center, and the Estonian Patient Advocacy Association.