In this paper, the reader is taken on a field trip to a village in the north of the West Bank. Events described in the report are used to explore some of the methodological dimensions of a psychosocial programme designed and implemented in joint partnership between a local Palestinian academic institution, the Institute of Community and Public Health of Birzeit University, and a Palestinian nongovernmental organisation the Community Based Rehabilitation programme.

In het kader van 70 jaar Bevrijding lanceert het Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei samen met het Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid de gratis app Oorlogsmonumenten in Beeld.
Tegelijk lanceert het comité ook de interactieve site Tweedewereldoorlog.nl/70jaarbevrijding.

A rich set of reflections on experiences with the Inter Agency Standing Committee Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Guidelines in Emergency Settings has recently been published in this journal. This paper describes a case study of using the guidelines in Nepal, which focused primarily on detailed implementation of preparatory steps. In effect, it describes a multi-agency process of using the guidelines as a tool to raise awareness,foster coordination and systematically integrate mental health and psychosocial considerations within the humanitarian cluster approach in Nepal.

Violence and instability in Iraq have had highly detrimental effects upon Iraqi children and adolescents. This article summarises the magnitude of Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) problems, and the available services in a country suffering from severe and extended conflicts, war, and international isolation. Possible interventions to promote child and adolescent mental health are discussed, including feasible CAMH policy, mental health plans and strategies. Barriers to successful implementation of CAMH services are identified and possible solutions are suggested.

Children with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence, as well as more likely to experience psychosocial problems in situations of armed conflict than children with no disabilities. All children who live in conflict affected areas have the same rights to psychosocial support, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in the case of disabled children, additionally the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, children with disabilities are often overlooked in psychosocial programmes.

The paired adversities of torture and exile form a particularly toxic combination that leaves people vulnerable to further abuse, and lacking support for recovery and integration. A descriptive study of tortured exiles living in Johannesburg explores this phenomenon in South Africa, and is presented as an example of a more widespread problem in the developing world. The authors argue that the challenges in studying this elusive group contribute greatly to its continued isolation and exclusion from care.

Research with survivors of political violence in Latin America have shown that any analysis of the consequences of war or political repression should take into account the social and political realities in which the survivors are immersed. It has also shown that research must go hand in hand with action, intervention and psychosocial support for communities that confront violence. In this article, the authors review some of the basic principles that should guide research and action within the context of war or other political violence.

De Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid (OVV) publiceerde vandaag, 9 september 2014, de eerste bevindingen over de oorzaak van de ramp met vlucht MH17. De Volkskrant beschrijft negen opvallende bevindingen...

The capacity of thepre disaster mental health system in Pakistan was weak, and the earthquake affected areas in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan were among the most underserved areas in the country in terms of adequate mental health services. The natural disaster exposed the weaknesses in the mental health delivery system in most of these areas. This paper describes a mixed methods field based assessment to design a mental health intervention in the earthquake affected district of Mansehra of NWFP.

Designing and implementing psychosocial intervention programmes in post conflict settings requires a breadth of knowledge of the context, circumstances, and needs of vulnerable social groups. However, mixed methods research focusing on which groups are vulnerable, and their specific psychosocial needs, is rarely conducted. This study uses historical policy discourse analysis to identify the origins of contemporary social categories related to vulnerability in Nepal, specifically caste.