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Global Integration Updates
Common Ground for the Common Good
Build the world we need--Be the people we need
Special News--November 2019
Helping Well in Humanitarian Settings
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
(MHPSS)
 The me and an image from the International MHPSS Conference
More people than ever before have lost their homes and sense of security because of conflict, violence, poverty, natural disasters and oppression. Many of them do not know whether, or for how long, they’ll still have a roof over their heads. They may have lost family, friends or loved ones, or not know where they are. The psychological impact of this is often hidden. While wars or disasters may end, traumas remain. (MHPSS Conference website)
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In this Update we feature several resources from the International Conference on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Crisis Situations (Amsterdam 7-8 October 2019). This was the Second Ministerial Summit on Global Mental Health (last year in the UK and next year in France). This year it was organized by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The overall purpose was to: "mobilise commitment from countries and organisations to scaling up sustainable and high quality MHPSS during and after disasters and conflicts; increase the level of commitment by countries and donors to long-term financial support for MHPSS in crises, and identify financing mechanisms; and present proven, scalable, evidence-based approaches and interventions, and ways to integrate them into humanitarian aid programmes." (MHPSS Conference website)
There were representatives/ministers from 25+ country ministries of heath, economy, or development; MHPSS pioneers-practitioners and thought-action leaders; many people with "lived experience" in conflicts and calamities, UN leaders such as the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros; and overall perhaps 500 participants (including Kelly). The conference was incredibly well organized, thoroughly professional, relevant, with a genuine "human" quality to it all. The plenaries were live streamed and are available as video archives.
A central place was given to hear the remarkable stories of several people who have lived through the horrific hardships of wars and disasters, and who have found the resilience and support which helped them to survive and in turn help others (some links to listen are below). Other major emphases were on interactions over special topics via 10 Breakout Sessions (background summaries/links below) as well as on many country and organizational examples of implementing MHPSS. Still another major emphasis was providing and developing MHPSS for humanitarian staff (e.g., the estimated 14 million local/community volunteers in the Red Cross Movement alone).
The title and theme of the conference conveyed the importance of taking immediate, strategic action for MHPSS: "Mind the Mind Now." We sincerely hope that this conference and the many resources shared therein can help us all do just that: promote and provide quality MHPSS on behalf of a) the estimated 130+ million people in need of humanitarian assistance, with over 70 million who have been forcibly displaced from their homes; and b) the dedicated staff who work in difficult and often dangerous crisis situations. And may it also be a tangible springboard to help prevent and end violent conflict in our very troubled yet beautiful world.
Warm greetings from Geneva,
Kelly and Michèle
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Featured Resources
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Helping Well in Humanitarian Settings
Theme and an image from the International MHPSS Conference
At least 1 in 5 people who experience conflict or disaster develop a psychological condition. This may prevent them from caring for themselves or for family members. Tensions and mental health issues damage the social network people need in order to face problems together, rebuild communities and give life new purpose.
(MHPSS Conference website)
Conference website: Here you will find the purpose, background, programme, photos, a 3.5 minute video overview, a magazine with conference highlights, etc.
Mind the Mind Now: Background Document and Recommendations. “In 2018, in preparation of this conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs consulted a wide range of international and national actors working on MHPSS in humanitarian settings. The ten most often mentioned topics will be covered in the conference. For each topic, invited experts have prepared a background paper with recommendations to inform conference participants. Close to 80 experts contributed to the background papers: humanitarians, policy makers in international organizations (such as the United Nations and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement), researchers and scholars, and people with lived experience.” (page 13)
One of the summary drawings done during each of the 10 breakout Sessions-Topics
The 10 topics:
--Day One: Scaling up MHPSS, Workforce development, Investment in MHPSS, Just and inclusive society, Research and innovation
--Day Two: Children, adolescents, and families; MPSS during public health emergencies, Staff support, Gender-based violence, Mobilizing displaced/host communities for MHPSSS
MHPSS Conference Declaration. This short Declaration reflects the serious advocacy-call to actively prioritize, fund, and integrate MHPSS into the world community's efforts to help in emergency and protracted emergency settings. About 25 countries endorsed the Declaration, as well as several UN agencies, IFRC, ICRC, etc. You can watch the three minute statements of endorsement by starting at 2:26:20 towards the end of the Day Two video.
Special presentation by Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation (about 12 minutes, starting around 1:00 of the Day Two video.
Day One video: presentations, videos, panels personal stories, etc. Some highlights:
>39:00--43:45. video, MHPSS in Iraq
>43:45--1:19:00. panel, voices from the field--Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda
>1:58:00--2:16:45. Ted-likeTalk, the importance of staff care
>2:16:45--2:19:00. video, former refugee, model, advocate
>2:20:00--3:19:00. panel, scaling up/task shifting, examples from Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Syria, Zimbabwe, Yemen
Day Two video: presentations, videos, panels personal stories, etc. Some highlights:
>01:00--11:40. presentation by Sigrid Kaag, summarizing key MHPSS issues, commitments
>29:00--46:30. Ted-like Talk, growing up in Sierra Leon conflict and now star ballerina in The Netherlands
>1:07:00--1:17:30. performance, "the pianist of Yarmouk"
>1:18:40--1:22:15. video, Syrian refugee and now psychology student in The Netherlands
>2:26:20-4:25:00--commitments of about 25 "high-level guests (with one example being Minister of Health from Rwanda 3:54:30--3:59:00)
Some of the resources shared during the Conference:
--A Guide to Psychological First Aid (2018). Psychosocial Centre, IRFC. See the many materials for MHPSS and to support staff and volunteers which the Psychosocial Center has developed over the years. See also Guidelines on MHPSS (2018) by the ICRC (chapter 4 is on MHPSS for “Helpers”).
--Problem Management Plus (2016). World Health Organization. “Individual psychological help for adults impaired by distress in communities exposed to adversity.” (in 13 languages). Other recent mental health resources from the World Health organization et al: mhGAP Community Toolkit (2019, field test version); Epilepsy: A Public Health Imperative (2019, in six languages); Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia (2019); Suicide Prevention: Toolkit for Engaging Communities (2018); Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health (2018).
--STRENGTHS Project (Scaling UP Psychosocial Interventions with Syrian Refugees). “The STRENGTHS project will train Syrian refugees to provide a mental health intervention called Problem Management+ (PM+) to fellow Syrian refugees. PM+ is developed by the WHO. It is a short programme that does not target a single disorder. Instead it targets symptoms of common mental disorders.” See the 2 minute overview video on the website.
--Healing Trauma and Building Long Term Peace in Rwanda (2018). Interpeace and Never Again Rwanda. “This report…explores the question of how peacebuilding approaches can address deep wounds from the past, reduce trauma and psychological distress, and build resilience, forgiveness and social tolerance in a post-genocide setting like Rwanda. By doing so, it is possible to not only address deep wounds and trauma that are the basis for marginalisation, exclusion, grievances and violent tendencies, but also improve levels of trust and the ability of individuals to non-violently resolve grievances...enabling individuals to more actively participate in society thus improving governance and social cohesion.” (excerpt from the Executive Summary)
--Manual on Community-Based MHPSS in Emergencies and Displacement (2019). International Organization for Migration. See also Community-Based MHPSS in Humanitarian Emergencies:Three-Tiered Support for Children and Families (2018) UNICEF; and OCHA Evaluation of Duty of Care (June 2018, final report) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); IASC Guidelines for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (2018, easy to read version; note the updated version by IASC et al is to be to be published in November 2019)
Personal note: For me personally, one major item that I wanted to see included more prominently was the Agenda for Humanity and its five Core Responsibilities (World Humanitarian Summit, 2016). I especially am thinking of Responsibility One--leadership responsibility to prevent and end conflicts. I made an intervention in the morning plenary of Day One (3:11:00) to this effect although it was not discussed further in the session. See the the summary diagram of the 5 Core Responsibilities and the related 24 Transformations.
More organizations for more resources: MHPSS Network, DisasterReady, Joint Learning Initiative, Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance, Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection, Peace and Community Development Network, Inter-Agency Standing Committee, etc.
Image courtesy and ©2019 ENOD
Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organization working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations in the mission, humanitarian, and development sectors as well as global mental health, all with a view towards supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, developing resources, and publications.
Global Integration (GI) is a framework for actively and responsibly engaging in our world--locally to globally. It emphasizes connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity, commitments, and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based). GI encourages a variety of people to be at the “global tables” and in the "global trenches"--and everything in-between--in order to help research, shape, and monitor agendas, policies, and action for all people and the planet. It intentionally links building the world we need with being the people we need.
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