NEW DELHI, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On the occasion of World Mental Health Day (10th October), the India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA), a cross-sectoral network of 400 organisations from 30 Indian states, reaffirms its commitment to recognising lived experience as expertise, ensuring that the voices of people and vulnerable communities who have experienced mental health challenges; are central to how care is designed and delivered.
IMHA was founded with the belief that mental health is a shared developmental priority for the nation, and building a strong system of care requires collective responsibility. Over the past two years, IMHA has engaged with 3,380 mental health professionals across 135+ cities, and mobilised its member organisations to build collective capacity, enable knowledge-sharing, and embed lived experience expertise in care design and practice.
"These lived experiences offer an important source of knowledge about what mental healthcare looks like in practice i.e. how people experience services, navigate systems and seek support within their social and cultural contexts across India. IMHA believes that bringing clinical expertise together with lived and practice-based knowledge, is essential to building a mental health ecosystem that is more equitable, contextual and responsive to people's diverse needs," said Dr. Kavita Arora, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Founding Cohort Member of IMHA.
Towards this commitment IMHA is building a co-curated and collaborative Knowledge Hub to make knowledge accessible from diverse sources and modalities, for eg-practitioner insights, field lessons, clinical and lived experience expertise and academic research grounded in local contexts.
As part of its broader work to amplify and mainstream lived experience as expertise, IMHA proudly presents India's first anthology of lived-experience narratives by 11 women leaders from across sectors, 'Homecoming: Mental Health Journeys of Resilience, Healing & Wholeness'. This evocative book brings together first-person accounts of women in urban India navigating severe mental health conditions, including depression, complex PTSD, suicide loss, intergenerational trauma, anxiety and OCD. In sharing their journeys, they invite us to reflect on how families, communities, workplaces and healthcare professionals understand and respond to mental health conditions. Link to short film | Link to the book
About the India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA)
The India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA) is a Section 8 not-for-profit organisation launched in late 2023 as a partnership between Vasvi and Ashish Bharat Ram, Amaha Health and Children First. IMHA is a cross-sectoral national alliance working to strengthen India's mental health ecosystem by convening stakeholders, building capacities and catalysing collaboration at scale, with a member base of 400 organisations across 30 Indian states representing health, gender, livelihood, climate & education. It focuses on capacity-building for community organisations, healthcare and educational institutions, as well as individual mental health practitioners through multi-channel knowledge sharing and learning initiatives. Through its work, IMHA aims to mainstream mental health as a national development priority; improve the quality of care; embed Lived Experience Expertise (LEE) in care design and practice; and mobilise long-term, unrestricted capital for India's mental health ecosystem.
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India Mental Health Alliance (IMHA) champions lived experience as central to shaping mental healthcare practice, service design and policy
- Fourth edition builds on last year's momentum, advancing partnerships across financial services and technology.
- Bringing together 40+ speakers, international delegations, and the inaugural Tech Talent Hub, the event demonstrates the scale of industry participation behind Fintech Forward 2026.
MANAMA, Bahrain, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Fintech Forward 2026 (FF26), the Gulf region's flagship financial forum, wrapped up today at Exhibition World Bahrain with more than 60 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), strategic agreements, and key announcements unveiled, securing over 2900 local and international participants. Marking the fourth edition, the forum welcomed its largest number of sponsors and exhibitors to date, underscoring the strength of industry engagement and a shared ambition to shape the next chapter of financial services.
The 65% increase in announcements and signings at FF26 highlights the Forum's growing role as a catalyst for tangible economic outcomes. Several of this year's announcements and MoUs build on connections forged at FF25, demonstrating how Bahrain's agile financial ecosystem converts dialogue and access to decisionmakers into sustained momentum. This is the Team Bahrain approach in action, harnessing public-private partnership to drive innovation, strengthen the ecosystem and unlock new pathways for growth.
Among the developments announced at FF26 was a Google Cloud Universal Ledger pilot showcased by BBK. The project is being delivered in collaboration with ARRAY Innovation, a portfolio company of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund. It explores the use of advanced digital ledger technology within BBK's core banking operations, with potential applications in tokenized payments and programmable settlement.
Beyon and barq Group's (Technologies Union) also announced an agreement which brought together Beyon Money's operations with barq's fintech platform, with Beyon set to retain economic interest in barq, subject to final documentation and regulatory approvals.
FF26 also saw BENEFIT announce the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) as the first participating bank and anchor banking partner in the Trade Finance Registry pilot. Developed in collaboration with Singapore-based trade finance fraud prevention specialist MonetaGo and Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), the pilot aims to reduce risk across trade finance. Bahrain FinTech Bay also launched its fourth Fintech Ecosystem Report (2024–2026), charting Bahrain's progression to regulated execution and highlighting opportunities in AI, tokenisation, and cross-border payments. FF26 also marked the announcement of the third edition of the NBB Innovation Programme in partnership with BFB, continuing its presence at Fintech Forward for a second consecutive year.
Further announcements included Beyon Connect's plans to launch an AML Referral Programme, with AMAN Compliance Solutions joining as its first referral partner, helping organisations access specialised financial crime prevention and compliance expertise, alongside an MoU between Beyon Connect and BENEFIT to explore joint fintech opportunities locally and internationally, combining their complementary capabilities across digital identity, payments, credit and information services, as well as data analytics. BENEFIT and Huawei also signed an MoU to explore cooperation in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, reflecting the growing intersection between financial services and emerging technology.
Additionally, Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain announced an MoU with stc Bahrain to expand their existing partnership, exploring new areas of collaboration across digital solutions and integrated use cases, while further advancing digital capabilities in cash management, reconciliation, and trade finance.
The exhibition also debuted the Tech Talent Hub, featuring Citi, J.P. Morgan and KPMG and highlighting the role of Bahraini talent in supporting global clients and operations from the Kingdom, alongside the skills and career pathways shaping the future of financial services and technology. Bahrain's highly skilled, future-proofed and diverse talent base continues to be a defining strength of the Kingdom's economy, underpinned by strong workforce participation.
Bahrain has built a well-established financial services ecosystem over decades, supported by progressive regulation, advanced digital infrastructure, and a commitment to innovation. Financial and insurance activities remain the largest contributor to the Kingdom's economy, accounting for 17.6% of real GDP in 2025, with the sector continuing to play a central role in driving economic growth and attracting investment. The sector is supported by a forward-looking regulatory environment led by the Central Bank of Bahrain, alongside a skilled workforce, and strong digital infrastructure.
Hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB) and programmed by Forbes Middle East, FF26 was supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), and Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB) and was held under the theme "Finance in the Age of Intelligent Infrastructure."
MANAMA, Bahrain, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Fintech Forward 2026 (FF26), the Gulf region's flagship financial forum, wrapped up today at Exhibition World Bahrain with more than 60 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), strategic agreements, and key announcements unveiled, securing over 2900 local and international participants. Marking the fourth edition, the forum welcomed its largest number of sponsors and exhibitors to date, underscoring the strength of industry engagement and a shared ambition to shape the next chapter of financial services.
The 65% increase in announcements and signings at FF26 highlights the Forum's growing role as a catalyst for tangible economic outcomes. Several of this year's announcements and MoUs build on connections forged at FF25, demonstrating how Bahrain's agile financial ecosystem converts dialogue and access to decisionmakers into sustained momentum. This is the Team Bahrain approach in action, harnessing public-private partnership to drive innovation, strengthen the ecosystem and unlock new pathways for growth.
Among the developments announced at FF26 was a Google Cloud Universal Ledger pilot showcased by BBK. The project is being delivered in collaboration with ARRAY Innovation, a portfolio company of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund. It explores the use of advanced digital ledger technology within BBK's core banking operations, with potential applications in tokenized payments and programmable settlement.
Beyon and barq Group's (Technologies Union) also announced an agreement which brought together Beyon Money's operations with barq's fintech platform, with Beyon set to retain economic interest in barq, subject to final documentation and regulatory approvals.
FF26 also saw BENEFIT announce the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) as the first participating bank and anchor banking partner in the Trade Finance Registry pilot. Developed in collaboration with Singapore-based trade finance fraud prevention specialist MonetaGo and Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), the pilot aims to reduce risk across trade finance. Bahrain FinTech Bay also launched its fourth Fintech Ecosystem Report (2024–2026), charting Bahrain's progression to regulated execution and highlighting opportunities in AI, tokenisation, and cross-border payments. FF26 also marked the announcement of the third edition of the NBB Innovation Programme in partnership with BFB, continuing its presence at Fintech Forward for a second consecutive year.
Further announcements included Beyon Connect's plans to launch an AML Referral Programme, with AMAN Compliance Solutions joining as its first referral partner, helping organisations access specialised financial crime prevention and compliance expertise, alongside an MoU between Beyon Connect and BENEFIT to explore joint fintech opportunities locally and internationally, combining their complementary capabilities across digital identity, payments, credit and information services, as well as data analytics. BENEFIT and Huawei also signed an MoU to explore cooperation in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies, reflecting the growing intersection between financial services and emerging technology.
Additionally, Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain announced an MoU with stc Bahrain to expand their existing partnership, exploring new areas of collaboration across digital solutions and integrated use cases, while further advancing digital capabilities in cash management, reconciliation, and trade finance.
The exhibition also debuted the Tech Talent Hub, featuring Citi, J.P. Morgan and KPMG and highlighting the role of Bahraini talent in supporting global clients and operations from the Kingdom, alongside the skills and career pathways shaping the future of financial services and technology. Bahrain's highly skilled, future-proofed and diverse talent base continues to be a defining strength of the Kingdom's economy, underpinned by strong workforce participation.
Bahrain has built a well-established financial services ecosystem over decades, supported by progressive regulation, advanced digital infrastructure, and a commitment to innovation. Financial and insurance activities remain the largest contributor to the Kingdom's economy, accounting for 17.6% of real GDP in 2025, with the sector continuing to play a central role in driving economic growth and attracting investment. The sector is supported by a forward-looking regulatory environment led by the Central Bank of Bahrain, alongside a skilled workforce, and strong digital infrastructure.
Hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB) and programmed by Forbes Middle East, FF26 was supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Labour Fund (Tamkeen), the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA), and Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB) and was held under the theme "Finance in the Age of Intelligent Infrastructure."
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Fintech Forward 2026 Concludes in Bahrain with over 60 Strategic Agreements Signed, Drawing 2900 Participants
