Advance legal and policy reform
Build support for decriminalising attempted suicide and share lessons across countries, including Uganda's proposed Suicide Prevention Bill.
About the summit
From Silence to Action: Advancing Suicide Prevention Across Africa. A first-of-its-kind continental gathering where policy, evidence, care and lived knowledge move together.
A shared route from silence to action.
The African Summit on Suicide Prevention is designed to move dialogue into practical prevention action, connecting the people who shape systems with the people who experience them.
Its language is grounded in dignity. Its ambition is practical: better-informed policy, stronger care, more accountable collaboration, and prevention approaches that make sense in African contexts.
The inaugural summit takes place from 19–21 October 2026 at Sheraton Kampala Hotel in Kampala, Uganda.
A defining moment for the continent.
Suicide is a major, preventable public health, social and human rights challenge. More than 720,000 people die by suicide globally each year, and it remains among the leading causes of death for people aged 15 to 29. Africa carries a disproportionate share of that burden, made harder to see by underreporting, stigma and weak surveillance systems.
Momentum is building. Ghana decriminalised attempted suicide in 2024 and Kenya's criminalising law was struck down in 2025, yet more than forty African countries still treat attempted suicide as an offence rather than a call for care. The summit meets at this turning point.
See the fuller regional data11.2
estimated suicide deaths per 100,000 in Africa, above the 9.0 global average
75%
of the 720,000+ annual global suicide deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries
15–29
the age range in which suicide is among the leading causes of death
40+
African countries have historically criminalised attempted suicide
Source: World Health Organization; Uganda Police Annual Crime Report, 2022. View source ↗
What the summit sets out to do.
Three days of engagement, built to strengthen political commitment, continental collaboration and collective action toward reducing suicide and suicidal behaviour in Africa.
Consolidate evidence and priorities
Produce the African Suicide Prevention Policy Brief 2026, bringing together evidence and recommendations for governments, parliaments and institutions.
Strengthen care and prevention
Explore mental health service integration, research, surveillance, financing, postvention and community-based support.
Secure a shared commitment
Close with an African Call to Action on Suicide Prevention: commitments to reform, better services and stronger data across the continent.
A continental table, not a single sector.
The summit is built for anyone with a role in prevention, in whichever system, sector or community they work in.
Parliamentarians & policymakers
Governments & health systems
Mental health professionals & researchers
Civil society organisations
People with lived experience
Development & humanitarian partners
Private sector institutions
Faith & community leaders
How the summit speaks about suicide.
The summit positions suicide not as a criminal act or a subject for silence, but as a preventable public health, social and human rights concern that calls for compassion, political leadership, evidence-based intervention and sustained investment.
Silence
Dialogue
Stigma
Support
Criminalisation
Compassion
Fragmented responses
Collective action
Every life matters. Suicide is preventable. Together, Africa can act to save lives and strengthen hope.
Help move prevention from silence to action
Join us at Sheraton Kampala Hotel, 19–21 October 2026.