A/HRC/41/34 F. Participation 32. The realization of the right to health requires the participation of everyone, particularly those living in poverty and those most excluded from society, in decisionmaking at all levels of public policy relating to mental health. Participation is only possible when all populations are recognized, respected and included in social conditions and structures. Enabling and resourcing civic space and building transparent health and social information systems will strengthen the right to participation and are essential for engaged and inclusive promotion of mental health. Populations and individuals must be provided with the space and resources necessary for civic debate and community action that can empower communities to develop strategies that shape their own well-being. Supporting members of civil society as key stakeholders in delivering action to promote health will foster the diversity of the community responses required to promote holistic well-being, offering diversity and autonomy to those seeking care and support rather than paternalism and coercion. 33. Meaningful participation has been undermined by entrenched power asymmetries within traditional mental health settings (see A/HRC/35/21). Trust, the bedrock of therapeutic relationships, has been corroded, particularly where coercive and paternalistic practices are prioritized. User-led advocacy initiatives, peer support networks and, vitally, new working methods, such as co-production based on genuine equality for people with lived experience of mental health conditions and services,18 are essential to restoring trust and building new alternatives. Such alternatives should ensure representative and meaningful participation to shape mental well-being and interventions. User-led research, with its emancipatory traditions in the production of knowledge and evidence, should be accorded equal standing to other approaches in the formulation of mental health policies that are compliant with human rights obligations. 34. Laws, policies and practices that restrict the operation of civil society are retrogressive in nature and cannot be seen as compliant with the right to health. While everyone has the right to participation, persons in vulnerable situations should in particular be included in all mental health-related decision-making. This approach requires accepting that the biomedical model in mental health care does not work for everyone, and that its overuse has left countless people behind. Only with such acceptance, which requires political will and decisions, can people with intellectual, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities and other mental health conditions be empowered as active agents who can define their experiences and the type of support they need. 35. Innovation in the promotion of mental health must be defined and created at the local level, with communities, individuals and families, which requires a shift to shared policy action that does not fit easily into one silo or into one ministry. Space for such innovation must be created in the civil, political and social realms. G. Non-discrimination 36. The right to mental health is dependent on non-discrimination in the enjoyment of all other human rights and is itself a critical determinant of mental health and well-being. Discrimination on any ground, within and beyond mental health settings, is both a cause and a consequence of poor mental health. 37. Harmful stereotypes (including gender stereotypes) and stigmatization in the community, family, school and workplace settings undermine healthy relationships, dismantling the supportive and inclusive environments that are required for the good mental health and well-being of everyone. Discriminatory attitudes that increasingly influence laws, policies and practices undermine the social structures required to support well-being and inclusion. Xenophobia and intolerance create hostile emotional and psychosocial 18 8 See Peter Beresford and Sarah Carr, eds., Social policy first hand: An international introduction to participatory social welfare (Bristol, Policy Press, 2018). See also A/HRC/35/21.