This video is an adaptation of the children’s book, My Hero is You, released in early 2020 to help educate children around the world about COVID-19. The original book was created by mental health and psychosocial support experts from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the United Nations.
A team, led by Stanford Medicine’s Maya Adam, adapted the story into a short animated film, with input and oversight from the IASC Mental health and Psychosocial Support Reference Group, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The film aims to convey messages of hope, resilience, solidarity, and empowerment to children and their caregivers around the world.
Consent is like being ruler of your own country…population: YOU. This is a smart, playful guide to consent and bodily autonomy. There is an upcoming book, based on this video that’s packed with bright and energetic illustrations. Readers will learn about boundaries and how to set them; signs of healthy (and unhealthy) relationships; ways to respect themselves and others; how to spot grooming behaviors; what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe; and much more. Along the way, they’ll be encouraged to reflect on (and improve!) their own behavior and to practice consent in their daily lives. Whether you’re looking for a consent primer to share with a friend or searching for a way to talk to your child about what it means to be in control of their own body and respect others’, look no further! This humorous and insightful book from the co-creator of the viral “Tea Consent” video is the perfect teaching tool, conversation starter, and insightful, empowering resource for educators, kids, and families everywhere.
You can see the video here.
The network acilitate and support the contributions of psychological organizations to the global understanding of human sexual and gender diversity, to the health and well-being of people around the world who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual or intersex(LGBTI), and to the full enjoyment of human rights by people of all sexual orientations, gender expressions, gender identities and sex characteristics.
The Network of Psychologists For Human Rights is open to all psychologists around the world who are interested in Human Rights. This includes the application of psychological science to human rights issues; human rights abuses; advocacy for respect for human rights; and human rights of psychologists.
“The long lasting resilience of individuals and communities affected by mass violence has not been given equal prominence as their suffering. This has often led to psychosocial interventions in post-conflict zones being unresponsive to local realities and ill-equipped to foster local strengths. Responding to the renewed interest in resilience in the field of violence and health, this study examines the resilience and post-traumatic responses of Indigenous Quechua women in the aftermath of the political violence in Peru (1980–2000).”
“The report deals with the changes in legislation and legal and administrative practice relating to the individual material provisions of the Convention that have been made since the Government of Norway submitted its combined sixth and seventh report (CAT/C/NOR/Q/7), with a reference to the list of issues adopted by the Committee at its 52nd session (CAT/C/NOR/QPR8), in accordance with the new optional reporting procedures established by the Committee at its 38th session.”
“A key element of the field of global mental health is the design and evaluation of innovative strategies for integrating cost effective pharmacological and psychosocial interventions in primary healthcare. The evidence from this work, from a range of contexts including high income countries, is showing the way to integration. A theme across this evidence is the placement of non-specialised providers (including peers, community health workers, and nurses) in primary healthcare and community settings.”
“Few individuals living with mental disorders around the globe have access to mental health care, yet most have access to a mobile phone. Digital technology holds promise for improving access to, and quality of, mental health care. We reviewed evidence on the use of mobile, online, and other remote technologies for treatment and prevention of mental disorders in low-income and middle-income countries. Of the 49 studies identified, most were preliminary evaluations of feasibility and acceptability. The findings were promising, showing the potential effectiveness of online, text-messaging, and telephone support interventions.”
“Forcibly displaced people’s mental health needs have often been neglected in response plans. Yet meeting these needs is critical to help displaced persons overcome trauma and rebuild their lives. Without appropriate mental health care, forcibly displaced people will often be unable to benefit fully from other forms of support that are provided to them. […] A shared commitment is needed from national and international actors to champion mental health parity in the provision of health and social services, including in humanitarian emergencies. High priority should go to identifying alternative sources of financing for mental health parity in health systems.”
“Dixon Chibanda is one of 12 psychiatrists in Zimbabwe – for a population of more than 16 million. Realizing that his country would never be able to scale traditional methods of treating those with mental health issues, Chibanda helped to develop a beautiful solution powered by a limitless resource: grandmothers. In this extraordinary, inspirational talk, learn more about the friendship bench program, which trains grandmothers in evidence-based talk therapy and brings care, and hope, to those in need.”
| Guided self-help intervention reduces refugees’ psychological distress and improves wellbeing in humanitarian crises “First randomised trial of its kind finds multimedia guided self-help intervention can be delivered rapidly to large numbers of people in low-resource humanitarian settings by non-specialists with minimal training. […] The study is the first randomised trial of a guided self-help group intervention in a low-resource humanitarian setting. Although longer follow-up is needed to determine the long-term effects of the intervention, the authors say that guided self-help could be a promising first-line strategy to address the vast gap in mental health support in areas where humanitarian access is difficult, such as South Sudan and Syria. |
Where There Is No Psychiatrist – A Mental Health Care Manual. Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2018
“This practical manual of mental health care is vital for community health workers, primary care nurses, social workers and primary care doctors, particularly in low-resource settings. This guide gives the reader a basic understanding of mental illness by describing more than thirty clinical problems associated with mental illness and uses a problem-solving approach to guide the reader through their assessment and management. Mental health issues as they arise in specific contexts are described – in refugee camps, in school health programmes, as well as in mental health promotion.”
The objective of this report is to compile information on the practices, practitioners and roles of states in conducting, supporting, promoting and acquiescing in conversion therapy. This research is intended to provide a framework for examining the practice of conversion therapy through the lens of state obligations to prevent and prosecute torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (also ill-treatment) and to provide redress to victims.
Despite this growing trend, little information is readily available on the global breadth and scope of conversion therapy, which often occurs in the private sphere and represents a set of diverse acts from psychotherapy to ‘corrective’ violence. To our knowledge, the August 2019 report of OutRight Action International is the first comprehensive global report, based on 489 surveys across 80 countries, and convincingly establishes the existence of conversion therapy as a worldwide problem.
For the past two decades, there has been substantial debate about whether there are qualitatively different symptom profiles that can develop in children from different types of traumatic events and life circumstances. The term “complex trauma” is often used to describe both the presumed causes and the consequences of exposure to traumatic stressors when the child has experienced other significant adversities and is manifesting more severe clinical presentations. The interest in an additional descriptive term or diagnosis has been fueled by trauma-focused treatment trials pointing to the fact that the experiences of many children involve more than the trauma and more than trauma-specific symptoms (e.g., children in foster care, residential treatment, juvenile justice). Efforts to classify these clinical presentations have included a proposed Developmental Trauma Disorder (Ford, et al, 2013).
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) the world’s premier trauma organization dedicated to trauma treatment, education, research and prevention. Through this organization, professionals share information about the effects of trauma, seeking to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) was founded in 1985 for professionals to share information about the effects of trauma. ISTSS is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences.
The Norwegian Human Rights Fund (NHRF) works to protect and promote human rights internationally through direct support to organisations working in the first line of defence for human rights.
The NHRF aims to be a flexible, courageous and global actor that provides direct support to local organisations working for the rights of vulnerable and marginalised individuals and groups. In many cases, the NHRF supports affected communities and people on the ground in mobilising and taking the lead in the struggle for their rights.
ONE MORE DAY – Have you signed up for the webinar? “A Comparison of Interventions for Reduction in Distress: Trauma Healing and Peace Education”.
Wed, 9th September, 1PM UTC. With presentations from Florence Ntakarutimana (Catholic Relief Services), Bill Froming (Palo Alto University) and Karen Bronk Froming (Palo Alto University) that focus on the work of Catholic Relief Services in the Central African Republic.
Register: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DF267XN
MHPSS.net is pleased to announce the first webinar in a series organised by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee #MHPSS Reference Group’s working group on ‘MHPSS and Peacebuilding’. This webinar series features case examples of practice in the field linking MHPSS and Peacebuilding objectives and approaches. The approaches and practices shared during this series are not formally endorsed or promoted by the IASC MHPSS Reference Group, but rather are shared in the spirit of enabling dialogue, debate and learning.
Learn more:
This report aims to raise awareness about the role that the reform of public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for people to live healthy lives. By encouraging a better understanding of how public health law can be used to improve the health of the population, the report aims to encourage and assist governments to reform their public health laws in order to advance the right to health.
The report highlights important issues that may arise during the process of public health law reform. It provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing public health laws. It also includes case studies and examples of legislation from a variety of countries to illustrate effective law reform practices and some features of effective public health legislation.
Although the COVID-19 crisis is, in the first instance, a physical health crisis, it has the seeds of a major mental health crisis as well, if action is not taken. Good mental health is critical to the functioning of society at the best of times. It must be front and centre of every country’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health and wellbeing of whole societies have been severely impacted by this crisis and are a priority to be addressed urgently.
Psychological distress in populations is widespread. Many people are distressed due to the immediate health impacts of the virus and the consequences of physical isolation. Many are afraid of infection, dying, and losing family members. Individuals have been physically distanced from loved ones and peers. Millions of people are facing economic turmoil having lost or being at risk of losing their income and livelihoods. Frequent misinformation and rumours about the virus and deep uncertainty about the future are common sources of distress. A long-term upsurge in the number and severity of mental health problems is likely.
This report identifies concerning trends for the safety and wellbeing of children living in areas impacted by conflict, through analysis of the United Nations Annual Reports of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) and new research by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). The research utilizes figures that are published, independently verified and credible, but one of the key findings of the data mapping process is that there is a significant and worrying gap in child-specific data in conflicts.
Although all warring parties are obliged to protect children, in conflicts around the world heinous attacks are committed against children on a daily basis, for which the perpetrators are not being held to account. What is more, many of these violations are increasing, driven bybrutal conflicts like the war in Syria. There is an urgent need for action to end what is too often a war on children.
With Dr. Claudia Garcia-Moreno, Dr. Lori Heise, and Wengechi Wachira
In the eighth installment of PHR’s webinar series, PHR Director of Programs Karen Naimer moderated a discussion on COVID-19 and gender-based violence featuring Wangechi Wachira and Drs.Claudia Garcia-Moreno and Lori Heisi. They discussed how the pandemic has exacerbated the crisis of sexual and gender-based violence and intimate partner violence on a global scale, how existing response programs may be adapted to protect survivors amid restrictions on movement during the pandemic, and possible solutions and policies to protect survivors and prevent and/or reduce violence in the long-term.
To watch the webinar please click on the link below:
With Dr. Scott Allen, Eunice Cho, and Gerald Staberock
In the sixth installment of PHR’s webinar series, PHR Senior Medical Advisor Dr. Ranit Mishori moderated a discussion on COVID-19 and detention center/prison populations featuring Dr. Scott Allen, Eunice Cho, and Gerald Staberock. They discussed the U.S. and international response to the danger of contagion in these densely populated environments, questions concerning access to care for inmates and staff, and how judgments being made today will shape the landscape of legal precedent going forward.
To watch the webinar please click on the link below:
With Dr. Gail Saltz and Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz
In the third installment of PHR’s ongoing webinar series, “Science-driven Solutions for Combating COVID-19,” psychiatrists and PHR board members Drs. Gail Saltz and Kerry Sulkowicz hold a discussion on the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. This discussion focuses on tips for self-care as we adapt to the new norms of physical distancing, working from home, and as some of us face anxieties related to the uncertainty of the pandemic.
To watch the webinar please click on the link below:
With Dr. Michele Heisler and Laurie Garrett.
On March 19, 2020, PHR medical director Dr. Michele Heisler held a Q&A with science writer and founder of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Global Health Program Laurie Garrett. The discussion addresses how governments and health professionals can fight the coronavirus while preserving human rights.
To watch the webinar please click on the link below:
COVID-19’s rapid spread poses particular challenges for vulnerable populations, especially migrants and displaced (M&D) children. Over 180 countries – and rising – have identified cases of COVID-19, and migration is often cited as the reason for its spread. It is apparent that certain characteristics of displaced populations such as higher risk of contagion, high mobility, and being difficult to reach, present suitable conditions for a rapid outbreak of COVID-19 – at huge risk to M&D children and to the surrounding communities. It is clear that the cost of not prioritising M&D populations is likely to be catastrophic.
Save the Children’s Programme Framework explicitly recognises the acute vulnerability of migrant and displaced communities and suggests a number of possible programmatic interventions. This paper, developed by the TWG on Protecting the Rights of M&D Children, the MDI and Geneva Advocacy office, aims to provide further complementary analysis, suggested text for proposal and project design, and technical guidance to SC colleagues.
A STEP-BY-STEP POCKET GUIDE FOR HUMANITARIAN PRACTITIONERS
The Pocket Guide and its supporting materials provide all humanitarian practitioners with information on:
Background note and FAQs can be accessed here.
User guide can be accessed here.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present an array of challenges, forcing nearly all types of basic service delivery – including, but not limited to, humanitarian response – to drastically adapt. Given how quickly the outbreak continues to evolve; the variation across contexts in the impact of the disease and the measures being implemented to control its spread; and the lack of documented good practice for delivering aid and services under such conditions, to a large extent the entire international system is learning as we go. As such, this document presents an initial summary of potential GBV risk mitigation actions, based on established good practice, that are starting points to address GBV risks in this unprecedented situation. The GBV risk mitigation actions summarized below are presented in the spirit of collective and iterative problem-solving.
This guidance summarizes the key actions for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We anticipate that pre-existing mental health
conditions will be exacerbated, and that new mental health problems will be induced by the COVID19 pandemic. This will occur in countries where IRC has ongoing MHPSS programming, and also in countries where IRC programs does not have dedicated mental health services and supports. We have outlined how to support continuity of existing MHPSS service and anticipate how to adapt programs based on the increased demand for MHPSS. All MHPSS plans should be coordinated with other sectors and other partners implementing MHPSS activities.
This guidance note is for MHPSS linked to the health system. There will be separate – but
complementary – guidance notes for MHPSS interventions that are implemented through VPRU,
Education and ERD programs.
In light of the unprecedented impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having across operations worldwide, UNHCR is revising its initial requirements of $33 million and is appealing for an additional $222 million, bringing revised requirements to $255 million to urgently support preparedness and response in situations of forced displacement over the next nine months.
COVID-19 is first and foremost a public health crisis, and within that crisis refugee and other forcibly displaced populations are at greater risk as the pandemic evolves.
UNHCR is focusing on protecting all forcibly displaced populations, prioritizing situations and
contexts—formal and informal—with large populations of refugees, IDPs, stateless persons and
other people of concern to ensure that health and WASH systems and services are shored up,
reinforced and quickly adapted.
Blog post
Faced with an unprecedented pandemic, governments across the Americas have begun to respond to COVID-19 in a variety of ways, ranging from calling for states of emergencies, to imposing travel bans, to implementing quarantines. Stakes are high and the way governments respond to this pandemic could determine the future of millions of people.
Governments are ultimately responsible for protecting people and their human rights but have often failed to do so in the Americas. Deep inequality, structural discrimination, a tendency to revert to repressive policing, censorship, underfunded public health systems, and inadequate social security and labour protections long predate the outbreak of COVID-19 in the region.
International human rights law guarantees everyone the right to the highest attainable standard of health and obligates governments to take steps to prevent threats to public health and to provide medical care to those who need it. Human rights law also recognizes that in the context of serious public health threats and public emergencies threatening the life of the nation, restrictions on some rights can be justified when they have a legal basis, are strictly necessary, based on scientific evidence and neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in application, of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, subject to review, and proportionate to achieve the objective.
The scale and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic clearly rises to the level of a public health threat that could justify restrictions on certain rights, such as those that result from the imposition of quarantine or isolation limiting freedom of movement. At the same time, careful attention to human rights such as non-discrimination and human rights principles such as transparency and respect for human dignity can foster an effective response amidst the turmoil and disruption that inevitably results in times of crisis and limit the harms that can come from the imposition of overly broad measures that do not meet the above criteria.
This document provides an overview of human rights concerns posed by the coronavirus outbreak, drawing on examples of government responses to date, and recommends ways governments and other actors can respect human rights in their response.
Global Submission by the International Save the Children Alliance UN Study on Violence against Children
The present study evaluates Save the Children’s experiences with work against child sexual abuse and exploitation around the world. We focus on the essence of our programme experiences, our insights and the ‘main jewels’ of our learning in the form of 10 essential learning points. We have investigated if and how our work has been in the best interest of children and whether it contributed to their development. How do we perceive the challenges and strategies that have been successful? The examination led to the formulation of the learning points, which may serve as a guide for establishing good practice and policies.
Thirteen country programmes within Save the Children – Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Syria, Nepal, Bangladesh, Romania and Spain – have been involved in the present examination, drawing on their own and partners’ experiences as well as the experiences of governments and civil society in general in combating child sexual abuse within a number of cultural, socio-economic, political and religious contexts. Good practice from other Save the Children members, academic and other sources has also been included. We have emphasised that the learning reflects what boys and girls of different ages themselves feel, think, reflect and experience around sexual abuse.Turid
The purpose of this document is to provide clear and actionable guidance for safe operations through the prevention, early detection and control of COVID-19 in schools and other educational facilities. The guidance, while specific to countries that have already confirmed the transmission of COVID-19, is still relevant in all other contexts. Education can encourage students to become advocates for disease prevention and control at home, in school, and in their community by talking to others about how to prevent the spread of viruses. Maintaining safe school operations or reopening schools after a closure requires many considerations but, if done well, can promote public health.
The document includes facts on COVID-19, information to school administrators, teachers and staff, parents/caregivers and community members as well as on age-specific health education with the aim to promote safe and healthy schools.
COVID-19 is having an unprecedented impact on all countries, both in terms of prompting the scaling of public health preparedness and response and protection of vulnerable populations, and in terms of requiring mitigation of broader social and economic impacts. While all countries need to respond to COVID-19, those with existing humanitarian crises are particularly vulnerable, and less equipped and able to do so. Humanitarian needs may also occur in other countries as a result of excessive pressure on health systems and the overall delivery of essential services, as well as secondary effects on employment, the economy and mobility, the rule of law, protection of human rights, and possible social discontent and unrest.
“The world is only as strong as the weakest health system. This COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan aims to enable us to fight the virus in the world’s poorest countries, and address the needs of the most vulnerable people.” – António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Short version available in French, Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese.
If the response to disease outbreaks such as COVID-19 is to be effective and not reproduce or perpetuate gender and health inequities, it is important that gender norms, roles, and relations that influence women’s and men’s differential vulnerability to infection, exposure to pathogens, and treatment received, as well as how these may differ among different groups of women and men, are considered and addressed. We call on governments and global health institutions to consider the sex and gender effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, both direct and indirect, and conduct an analysis of the gendered impacts of the multiple outbreaks, incorporating the voices of women on the front line of the response to COVID-19 and of those most affected by the disease within preparedness and response policies or practices going forward.
Until recently, the transmission of COVID-19 to developing countries or those experiencing ongoing
humanitarian emergencies had been limited,3 but such transmission is now occurring. Development and
humanitarian settings pose particular challenges for infectious disease prevention and control.4 Access
constraints and poor health and sanitation infrastructure are obstacles to disease prevention and treatment under the best of circumstances; when coupled with gender inequality and, in some cases, insecurity, public health responses become immeasurably more complex.
CARE’s analysis shows that COVID-19 outbreaks in development or humanitarian contexts could disproportionately affect women and girls in a number of ways, including adverse effects on their education, food security and nutrition, health, livelihoods, and protection. Even after the outbreak has been contained, women and girls may continue to suffer from ill-effects for years to come.
The publication includes a list of recommendations tailored to different actors.
In this briefing note you can find information about emerging gender impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as well as recommendations as to how to respond in a gender sensitive way. The first six recommendations are (please open the link to see the full list of recommendations):
More than a decade after it was presented to the United Nations General Assembly, Graça Machel’s report on the agony of children trapped in armed conflict remains the definitive assessment of the issue. It has continuously roused moral outrage and has been a foundation for programming and advocacy.
The changing nature of contemporary armed conflict cries out for a different approach, one that no longer focuses on particular countries or themes but on the totality of issues affecting children caught in armed conflict, a point captured in Mrs. Machel’s study. That is the central message of this 10-year strategic review, and it grows out of Mrs. Machel’s powerful insight that “war violates every right of the child.” We cannot hope to move forcefully on behalf of children in conflict until we turn our attention to all impacts, on all children, in all situations affected by conflict. The organization of this report aims to heighten our understanding of the myriad ways in which armed conflict affects children – and how children regard their participation not only in war but in programmes aimed at preventing violence against them and in promoting their recovery and reintegration.
The protection of children in conflict – and with it the realisation of the promises made in the declarations, conventions and statutes of the 20th century – is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century. The nature of conflict – and its impact on children – is evolving.
In today’s armed conflicts, there is often no longer a clearly demarcated battlefield: children’s homes and schools are the battlefield.
Increasingly, the brunt of armed violence and warfare is being borne by children. Children suffer in conflict in different ways to adults, partly because they are physically weaker and also because they have so much at stake – their physical, mental and psychosocial development are heavily dependent on the conditions they experience as children. Conflict affects children differently depending on a number of personal characteristics – significantly gender and age, but also disability status, ethnicity, religion and whether they live in rural or urban locations. The harm that is done to children in armed conflict is not only often more severe than that done to adults, it has longer lasting implications – for children themselves and for their societies
The goal of this multimedia educational program is to improve clinical care for and general treatment
of sexual assault survivors by providing medical instruction and encouraging competent, compassionate,
confidential care.
The program is intended for both clinical care providers and non-clinician health facility staff. It is
designed to be delivered in a group setting with facilitators guiding participants through the material and
directing discussions and group participation as appropriate. It is divided into five sections:
1. What Every Clinic Worker Needs to Know
2. Responsibilities of Non-Medical Staff
3. Direct Patient Care
4. Preparing Your Clinic
5. Forensic Examination
This WHO report shares detailed accounts from 10 diverse emergency-affected areas, each of which built better-quality and more sustainable mental health systems despite challenging circumstances. Cases originate from countries small to large; low to middle-income; across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; and affected by large-scale natural disasters, prolonged conflict, and large-scale influxes of refugees. While their contexts varied considerably, all were able to convert short-term interest in population mental health into sustainable, long-term improvements.
This WHO report goes beyond aspirational recommendations by providing detailed descriptions of how mental health reform was accomplished in these situations. Importantly, case contributors report not only their major achievements, but also their most difficult challenges and how they were overcome. Key overlapping practices emerging from these experiences are also summarized.
This report provides the proof of concept that it is possible to build back better, no matter how weak the existing mental health system or how challenging the emergency situation. I call upon all readers to take steps to ensure that those faced with future emergencies do not miss the important opportunity for mental health reform and development.
– Dr Margaret Chan, former Director-General WHO
Executive summary available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish here.
The Lancet Global Health‘s Nina Putnis speaks to Wietse Tol about his research on reducing psychological distress in female South Sudanese refugees, and the implications of this research for refugees and displaced people worldwide. Listen to the podcast below:
The third report of Save the Children’s Stop the War on Children campaign reveals shocking trends in the threats to the safety and wellbeing of children living in areas impacted by conflict. While fewer children are living in conflict-affected areas, those who do face the greatest risk of falling victim to serious violence since systematic records began. This report delves into the differences between boys’ and girls’ experiences through a gendered analysis of the six grave violations of children in conflict.
The toolkit is designed for field-based colleagues interested in developing a Call to Action Road Map for their setting. Initially, the primary users will likely be Call to Action Advisors engaged to support the project and field-based colleagues from the global Call to Action partnership. As the project takes hold, the toolkit will be a useful guide for national and local Call to Action stakeholders. Call to Action global focal points can also use it as a resource to increase their support for field-based efforts and strengthen action and accountability under the Call to Action.
The toolkit is a step-by-step guide that walks the reader through the process of developing a fieldlevel Road Map. It includes resources for the drafting process and for implementation. We hope colleagues in other settings will also take up this effort. Partners should consider this toolkit a living document that can be updated to capture good practices as we continue to learn from one another.
It is available in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.
This report presents compelling evidence that people with mental health conditions meet major criteria for vulnerability. The report also describes how vulnerability can lead to poor mental health, and how mental health conditions are widespread yet largely unaddressed among groups identified as vulnerable. It argues that mental health should be included in sectoral and broader development strategies and plans, and that development stakeholders have important roles to play in ensuring that people with mental health conditions are recognized as a vulnerable group and are not excluded from development opportunities. The rec
Problem Management Plus (PM+) is an evidence-based individual psychological intervention for adults impaired by psychological distress. PM+ was originally designed for communities exposed to adversity (such as chronic poverty, long-term humanitarian emergencies, displacement and similar events and conditions). People in these communities may experience loss of family, friends and livelihoods, and may confront many extreme stressors. People who face such adversities are at a greater risk of developing mental health problems. PM+ is effective in reducing distress indicators – such as symptoms of depression and anxiety – and improving positive mental health outcomes.
“Today, there is no shortage of countries in conflict. UN estimates suggest that in 2019, nearly 132 million people in 42 countries around the world will need humanitarian assistance resulting from conflict or disaster. Nearly 69 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by violence and conflict, the highest number since World War II.
Fortunately, there’s a lot we can do to help them. Indeed, there’s a lot we are doing.
In 2019 WHO is addressing mental health in countries and territories with populations affected by large-scale emergencies across the world, in Bangladesh, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine and the West Bank and Gaza Strip, among others.
In many countries in the world, ignorance about mental health and mental illness remains widespread. The uptake of mental health care during conflict and other emergencies, in countries where such support has been limited, can lead to the identification of people who are tied up, locked in cages, hidden from society. In many cases, it is this very support that helps dispel myths about mental illness and leads to treatment and care and a path towards a more dignified life.
We have also learned that, when the political will exists, emergencies can be catalysts for building quality mental health services”, Dr Mark van Ommeren, WHO
This report gathers expert analysis from a broad cross-section of stakeholders who are committed to bringing this unacceptable situation to an end. It draws out common findings and perspectives that demonstrate increasing cohesion in the action taken across regions to end violence against children. It shows how people the world over are stepping up to prevent and respond to violence and to protect children from its impact. In addition this report demonstrates that success breeds success and there has been real momentum since the 2015 adoption of the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, this report asks a key question: if the costs of inaction are so high and the solutions are known, why does violence against children continue to take place? What must we do to move better, faster and further in our urgent quest to bring it to an end? We hope that this report, by recognizing progress made, demonstrating what is needed and highlighting what can be done, will chart a course for accelerated action and for an ever-growing movement to end the scourge of violence.
(United Nations)
Families around the world look, feel, and live differently today. Families can be “make or break” for women and girls when it comes to achieving their rights. They can be places of love, care, and fulfillment but, too often, they are also spaces where women’s and girls’ rights are violated, their voices are stifled, and where gender inequality prevails. In today’s changing world, laws and policies need to be based on the reality of how families live.
UN Women’s flagship report, “Progress of the world’s women 2019–2020: Families in a changing world”, assesses the reality of families today in the context of sweeping economic, demographic, political, and social transformation. The report features global, regional, and national data. It also analyses key issues such as family laws, employment, unpaid care work, violence against women, and families and migration.
At a critical juncture for women’s rights, this landmark report proposes a comprehensive family-friendly policy agenda to advance gender equality in diverse families. A package of policies to deliver this agenda is affordable for most countries, according to a costing analysis included in the report. When families are places of equality and justice, economies and societies thrive and unlock the full potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report shows that achieving the SDGs depends on promoting gender equality within families.
(UN Women)
“Conflict-related sexual violence is now widely recognized as a war crime that is preventable and punishable. The United Nations Security Council has played an important role in the past decade
by passing successive resolutions that emphasize accountability for perpetrators and services for survivors.”
– United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
This tool is based on the PANEL principles (Participation, Accountability, Nondiscrimination, Empowerment and Legality) which form the basis of a human rights based approach. It is intended to help organisations assess their work and identify priorities for improvement towards embedding a human rights based approach.
The wellbeing of human rights defenders is a critical but often neglected issue in human rights movements. Deeply committed to their causes, human rights defenders often persevere despite challenges, risks, and personal suffering. Wellbeing – especially of themselves – is often deprioritised. Human rights defenders often find it difficult to talk about their own mental and emotional wellbeing; the very language used in relation to this topic can result in disengagement. Stigma, biases and misconceptions about mental health in their societies – held by themselves and others – may further impede efforts to strengthen their wellbeing.
The report states that 142 million children are living in high-intensity conflict zones, with many more millions forced to abscond as refugees. More than 24 million children exposed to conflict today are likely to encounter mild to moderate mental health problems yet, as Save the Children rightly contends, the global response to mental health support continues to be regrettably inadequate
The latest issue of the Torture Journal examines sleep deprivation as a method of torture and presents the text of a Protocol on Medico-Legal Documentation of Sleep Deprivation. Finally, this issue also comprises an epidemiological study on knowledge of torture among medical professionals in Tanzania, a case report exemplifying narratives of Tamil survivors of sexual torture in Australia, and a debate on the standing of the Istanbul Protocol in Israel.
Boys and girls are bearing a disproportionate burden of modern conflict. Latest figures reveal that 142 million children are living in high intensity conflict zones1 and millions more have been forced to flee as refugees, often to unstable settings in other countries. Since 2010, the number of children living in conflict zones has increased by 37%, yet the number of verified grave violations against them – including killing and maiming, recruitment into armed forces and sexual violence – has increased by 174%.
“When ISIS took over our town, the fighting got worse. I always felt tired and stressed. I feel so much older than I am because of the war. I feel like an old woman even though I am 16.” Safaa, 16, Syria
The increasing reach of the internet, the rapid spread of mobile information, and the widespread use of social media, coupled with the existing pandemic of violence against women and girls (VAWG), has led to the emergence of cyber VAWG as a growing global problem with potentially significant economic and societal consequences.
Maybe we confuse compassion with empathy. We are perhaps compassionate but it is hard for us to be empathic? This excellent animated film helps us to differentiate them. The power of empathy is an animated film that explains the difference between empathy and compassion. We are not always able to connect with other people’s emotions when they show and communicate their emotions, especially negative ones. Showing compassion causes people to distance themselves because they feel we don’t understand. However, when empathy take place, it connects with people. They feel heard and understood in their pain. Click here to see the animation
Child soldiers world index is the first-ever online global database mapping child recruitment practices, laws and policies of all 197 UN Member States. This global map visualises trends in the military exploitation of children, if you click on any country you see full details of the national legal framework, policies and practices, which armed groups recruit children, number of children reported etc. It is a valuable source of research and shows the seriousness of the situation of children in the world.
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