During emergencies and in contexts of displacement, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is crucial to the wellbeing of affected populations as it can prevent long-term negative psychological and social consequences. The need for MHPSS has therefore been increasingly recognized as a key response in such contexts. However, many MHPSS-programs focus on groups that are traditionally considered more vulnerable to emergency induced threats, like women and children, that tend to exclude males, and traditional perceptions of masculinity lead to a stigma related to the use of MHPSS-services. For both reasons, men are often underrepresented among MHPSS programs’ beneficiaries.
In 2020, the Working Group on MHPSS for Men and Boys of the Global IASC Reference Group on MHPSS hosted a webinar focusing on the mental health and psychosocial needs of men and boys. This initiative is now followed by a webinar on “Engaging Men and Boys in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings and Displacement”.
The 90-minute webinar will take place on Monday, 29 November at 3.00 pm CET and will be open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the topic and existing approaches and initiatives.
Date: Monday, 29 November at 3.00 pm CET
REGISTER for webinar.
The goal of the webinar is to share and discuss insights, challenges, gaps and lessons learned from projects addressing the mental health and psychosocial needs of men and boys in crisis and displacement situations, through the experiences of:
– Naomi Whitney-Hirschmann from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Germany will present psychosocial support self-help tools for Syrian men in Germany. She will explain the development of the tools and the low-threshold approach they provide.
– Sharon Rose Ataget & Alimi Robert from Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in South Sudan will share their community-based approaches to identify and engage men in activities that improve their wellbeing and help them become active in the fight against SGBV.
– Yevgeniya Yurchuk from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ukraine will introduce the communication strategy and channels used during a public campaign raising awareness about MHPSS and existing services, addressing specifically men & boys.
After the presentations, participants of the webinar will be invited to ask questions to the speakers.
Please note: Registration and attendance via Zoom are free and open to all. Please use the registration link mentioned above to sign in – the event can only be attended following registration. This event will be recorded. By registering you agree to the recording and that the
recorded session can be disseminated after the event.
