Humanitarian issues beyond the technical tools: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

The humanitarian organization Médecins sans Frontieres (MSF) supports the content of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. The guidelines promote a systemic, comprehensive approach to psychosocial and mental health problems, and bring unity to a field that was much needed. However, these guidelines operate within the context of major reforms of the humanitarian aid sector. The potential implications of these reforms on independent humanitarian action are discussed.

Words to Action: pictorial contextualization of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

A major challenge for the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings is to make them accessible to community groups. People at the local level often have difficulty in reading and comprehending the guidelines. This article describes how pictorial aids, such as visual stimulus cards and ‘low verbal-high visual’ instruction materials, were used to assist communities groups to work with the guidelines. We describe how these materials have been developed in several post disaster settings in Latin America and South East Asia.

Recent experiences and future challenges with implementation in South Asia: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

The initiatives for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are presented, using the case of a cyclone in Bangladesh. The IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings have proved useful, but need to be made operational through joint efforts by different actors, through dissemination to grass root rural levels, and through planning in the non emergency phase.

Keywords:    Inter-Agency Standing

 

The World Bank’s work on mental and psychosocial health in the context of conflict affected countries: the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

This paper provides a brief overview of selected aspects of the World Banks support in the area of mental and psychosocial health, with a focus on conflict affected countries, and reference to selected points in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee1 Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 2007).

UNHCR’s potential and its challenges in implementing the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings in the Ethiopia context

UNHCR has started to integrate the guidelines for mental health and psychosocial support into the overall activities. This report focuses on how this is being done in Ethiopia.

Keywords: UNHCR, Ethiopia, guidelines, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)

 

Expulsion of Burundian refugees from Tanzania: experiences with the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

The IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings were helpful in organizing mental health and psychosocial support services for Burundians who were expelled from Tanzania. Key aspects of the guidelines were the restoration of social support for people in acute distress, the use of Psychological First Aid, and the provision of care for those with pre-existing mental health problems.

Training of trainers on mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies, Africa

This field report summarizes the general psychosocial training topics, describes two critical sessions and presents outcomes from a training of trainers conducted in Africa, with twenty-five psychosocial field practitioners from fifteen non-governmental organizations, on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings.

A Kenyan case study: implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

This case study describes the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Kenya. The fieldwork was carried out 14-25 July 2008, and involved discussions with representatives of humanitarian organisations, UN agencies and government departments in Nairobi, Eldoret and Nakuru. It describes the ways in which the guidelines have been disseminated in Kenya, how they have ‘added value’ in that context, as well as the factors that have hindered the full implementation of the guidelines in Kenya.

A Jordanian case study: the implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

This case study describes the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings in Jordan. The fieldwork was carried out 17-27 August 2008 in Jordan and involved discussions with representatives of humanitarian organisations and UN agencies in Amman and Zarqa. This paper describes the ways in which the guidelines have been disseminated in Jordan and how they have ‘added value’ within the context of the Iraqi refugee crisis in Jordan. It also describes the factors that have hindered the full implementation of the guidelines.

A case study in Colombia: implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

Colombia is one of the first countries in the world to implement the IASC Guidelines for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings in the form of a ‘case study' It was shown that the guidelines are in general terms applicable and adaptable to the Colombian context. The guidelines were a useful coordination tool for the stakeholders from three different communities in identifying their priority needs and planning according responses from a holistic mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) perspective.

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