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.

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.

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.

The authors respond to commentaries in this journal about the 2007 IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings. Overall, influential commentators coming from opposite academic traditions and knowledge bases appear to welcome these guidelines and value them. In this response, the authors focus on a few critical comments, which may be explained by divergent understandings about what is meant by minimum response and what priority activities may be part of that response.