Webinar: “Question & Answer Webinar session on the field test version of UNICEF’s Operational guidelines on community-based mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings” (English)

UNICEF and MHPSS.net were pleased to host a Question & Answer Webinar session on the field test version of UNICEF’s Operational guidelines on community-based mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: Three-tiered support for children and families on September 27th, 2018.

The CB MHPSS operational guidelines are designed and intended to help UNICEF staff and partners support and promote safe, nurturing environments for children’s recovery, psychosocial wellbeing and protection. The guidelines present an operational framework that emphasizes engaging actors at all levels (children, caregivers, families and community service providers) to design and implement MHPSS strategies that are locally relevant, comprehensive and sustainable in order to more effectively restore, strengthen, and mobilize family and community supports and systems with the ultimate goal of supporting child and family wellbeing in humanitarian settings.

Building on the webinar that took place on July 27^th to introduce the operational guidelines, this follow up webinar answered questions from participants around content and use of the guidelines within programs and in specific setting.

To watch the webinar recording video, please click here.

About the Presenters:

Zeinab Hijazi, MSc, PsyD, has over 13 years of experience supporting International Medical Corps’ MHPSS programs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and was in a regional advisory role for 6 years providing guidance and oversight in the development, monitoring, evaluation and running of culturally appropriate mental health and psychosocial activities in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen. Zeinab has also consulted with International Medical Corps’ in 2017/2018, leading a global project to develop a toolkit for Integration of Mental Health into General HealthCare Systems. Since 2015, Zeinab has completed various consultancies with UNICEF in New York, the World Health Organization in Iraq (KRG), and MHPSS.net as co-director of the network. Zeinab is currently based in New York with UNICEF’s Child Protection in Emergencies Unit and provides program guidance and technical support to enhance UNICEF’s approach to the provision of mental health & psychosocial support for children and families in humanitarian settings.

Leslie Snider is a psychiatrist and public health professional with over 20 years’ experience in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programming and research in diverse global settings. In addition to clinical work in public mental health, she directed International Mental Health Studies for ten years at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She has collaborated with various UN agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations in developing international programs and quality care standards for children and families affected by disasters, conflict, HIV/AIDS, poverty and exploitation, and served as technical advisor to the US government, UNICEF, and others. She developed several accessible, international resources for MHPSS in emergencies, including the UNICEF Community-Based MHPSS Operational Framework, and the Psychological First Aid: Guide for Field Workers (WHO, 2011) translated in over twenty languages and widely used in humanitarian emergencies. She has over 40 publications and is the author of a children’s book supporting children and caregivers affected by the Ebola crisis. She currently serves as Director of the Global Centre for Child and Family MHPSS hosted by Save the Children Denmark.

About the Moderator:

Marcio Gagliato is a psychologist, with extensive field experience responding to humanitarian emergencies. Since 2015, he has been a part of the MHPSS.net team, with lead responsibility for supporting ongoing humanitarian emergencies. In 2008 he was awarded a Human Rights fellowship from Columbia University (New York), and over the past decade he has worked with several organizations, including the ICRC (Gaza, Iran), IOM (Libya), the Center for the Victims of Torture (Zimbabwe), Save the Children (Brazil) and CARE (HQ and East Central Africa Region). He has completed various consultancies with IMC, Chemonics, UNICEF, WHO, CARE International, SOS Children’s Villages focusing on a wide range of MHPSS management programmatic areas, especially in emergencies and protracted crises field level.