Regional Forum on Psychosocial Support
Date: 15 ‐17 May 2011
Venue: Kopanong Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa
The sell-out Regional Psychosocial Support Forum 2011, the first event of its kind, was officially brought to a close on the 17th May in South Africa. An official press release is available to download here: http://www.repssi.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=14&Itemid=70 .
Over 260 delegates attended the Forum, from 16 countries in East and Southern Africa. The delegates were comprised of senior government officials, civil society organizations, research and academic institutions, United Nations agencies, International Co-operating Partners and child and youth representatives.
Delegates at the meeting shared research findings, lessons learnt, experiences and key issues regarding the provision of services required for children and youth to grow and develop in a supportive environment. The meeting also reviewed and provided comments and input to the draft document on Minimum Package of Services for Orphans and other Vulnerable Children and Youth (OVC&Y) in SADC.
Plenary speeches included those from Prof. Lorraine Sherr and Dr. Lucie Cluver. Topics covered by the Forum included: New and Emerging Areas of Psychosocial Knowledge; Mainstreaming Psychosocial Support into Education, Health and Social Welfare Sectors;
The Forum was co-hosted by REPSSI, SADC, UNICEF and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, with support from South African Airways.
Presentations, photographs and documents from the Forum will soon be available for registered visitors to REPSSI’s site,www.repssi.org.
I want to say bravo REPSSI and the entire organising team for the job well done. This forum was one of the best. I would like also want to thank wholeheartedly REPSSI and the Sponsors for sponsoring me to the forum. This was somthing i will live to remember and will never forget. I benefited alot from the forum and i wish to congratulate all the presenters for the good presentations.
The forum formed part of my life and is a life time experience.
Yes together we can make the difference in the lives of children.
Sylvester Mwang’ana
Save the children Malawi
One of the participants to the forum
Great to hear this from you Sylvester! I will download the documents to read a little more about this event.