09/07/2026
Building mental health systems for Africa's AI workforce starts now.
Kauna Ibrahim Malgwi, the Founder and Executive Director of Digital rights and Mental Health initiatives DRMHI, spoke at the REAL ML Workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. She shared a vision that goes beyond responding to trauma; we must build systems that protect the mental health of content moderators and data workers before harm becomes a crisis.
DRMHI is designing a worker-centered approach that will categorize workplace harms and psychosocial risks, develop tailored mental health care pathways for data workers, generate community-led evidence that informs policy and AI governance, and build a Mental Health Community of care connecting clinicians, researchers, technologists, labor advocates, and workers across Africa and beyond.
This work cannot be done alone. DRMHI is seeking partners, funders, researchers, mental health professionals, and technology stakeholders who can help build ethical AI that includes the wellbeing of the people behind it.
If your organization wants to collaborate, fund this work, or join our community of practice, please get in touch.
Together, let’s build an AI ecosystem where human wellbeing is standard, not an afterthought.
