1. family and parenting
2. children

DRAFT BROCHURE
A SYMPOSIUM
GROWING UP IN CONFLICT:
THE IMPACT ON CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH AND
PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEING.
26 to 28 May, 2015, Hotel New Babylon, The Hague
Convened by:
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
In Partnership with:
Vision. The Symposium will bring together experts on the issue of
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS); practitioners especially field colleagues from key agencies working in conflict-affected
countries; academics; and representatives from UN agencies and
non-governmental organizations, to take stock of what we know, look
at what is happening in the field in terms of programming and come up
with recommendations for advancing knowledge and practice.
The Symposium will be hosted by the Government of the Netherlands
in The Hague, and supported by UNICEF’s Peacebuilding, Education
and Advocacy programme, “Learning for Peace”, which implements
innovative programming on education for peacebuilding in 14 countries
around the world. The Symposium will inform a range of initiatives such
as No Lost Generation, which aims to address the immediate and
long-term impacts of the Syria crisis on a generation of children and
youth.
INTRODUCTION.
Current trends in the nature of armed conflicts are resulting in an increase in
the scale and scope of protection issues affecting children and families. After
a decade of decline in the number of armed conflicts, this situation reversed
in 2010. Escalating armed conflicts result in increased and complex
protection risks for communities. By 2013, more people were refugees (16.7
million) and internally displaced (33.3 million) than at any time since 1994.
Children and women suffer disproportionately, physically and psychologically,
when their country is ripped apart by war and conflict.
UNICEF and the Government of the Netherlands are convening a Symposium
on children’s mental health and well-being in protracted armed conflicts on
26-28 May in The Hague, in partnership with the Child Protection Working
Group (CPWG), the Inter-agency Standing Committee Reference Group on
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS RG), City University of New
York (CUNY), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Johns
Hopkins University (JHU), MHPSS.net, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster
Assistance (OFDA)/U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),
REPPSI, Save the Children, Terre Des Hommes, UNHCR, WHO and World
The Symposium will feature two days of panels and expert discussions,
followed by an additional day for a core group of practitioners to share
experiences in a planning workshop. This third day offers field
colleagues from different agencies the chance to collaborate and learn
from each other.
The Symposium also provides an opportunity for advocacy. In
particular, the concluding session of the second day brings together
donor governments and practitioners from the field. The outputs of the
Symposium will also contribute to advocacy around the World
Humanitarian Summit and Post 2015 discussions.
KEY OBJECTIVES
OF THE SYMPOSIUM.
Consolidate and review the evidence base on the impacts of armed conflict and
displacement on children across the life cycle, with particular focus on their
mental health and psychosocial well-being.
Explore effective ways to ensure that MHPSS interventions are culturally and
contextually relevant and incorporate new scientific insights on 'resilience' and
'social ecology'.
Review existing strategies and approaches around MHPSS for children affected
by conflict and displacement analyze strengths and weaknesses.
Advocate for the importance of the issue of MHPSS with government actors and
potential donors.
BROAD THEMES
OF THE SYMPOSIUM.
MHPSS consequences of conflicts and displacement on children – A review of the
knowledge base, ranging from findings from neuroscience, to social psychology
and the social sciences.
Resilience of children, families, and communities - The role of culture and context
in MHPSS.
The link between MHPSS and rights-based approaches and the wider political
context.
The impact of conflict and displacement on wider social structures and processes, including
social cohesion and peacebuilding.
Going beyond post-traumatic stress disorder: towards a comprehensive paradigm that
includes the effects of chronic stress and structural adversity and integrates protective/ risk
factors at multiple levels.
Sharing field experiences and learning from successes and challenges.
Review current programme approaches, identifying gaps and opportunities.
Review current programme approaches, identifying gaps and opportunities.
PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT.
Participation at this event will be by invitation only. However, a social media strategy will
seek to engage a wider audience of stakeholders – prior to, during and after the
Symposium - through blogs, Twitter, and webcasts.
PROGRAM
11:45am-1pm
Day 1—26.May.2015—Knowledge and Perspectives
8:45 -9:00 am
Arrival and Registration
9:00 – 9:30am
Welcome from the Government of the Netherlands
Chair: Susan Bissell (UNICEF)
Panelists:
Michael Ungar
“What promotes and nurtures resilience in youth affected by conflict”
Mike Wessels
“Role of Community based mechanisms in promoting human security and
quality of life for children living in conditions of violence”
Introduction:
Christian Salazar
Deputy Director, Programme Division, UNICEF
Rita Gaicaman
“Interventions for building positive resilience among youth in occupied
Palestinian territory”
Introduction to the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and
Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
Dr. Mark van Ommeren, WHO
9:30 -10:15am
Theoneste Rutayisire, CBST/UNHCR
‘Community-based Sociotherapy (CBST)’
Perspectives from the Field
Facilitator: Ananda Galpati (MHPSS.net)
UNICEF CAR/IOM Video
Video Respondents & Field Reflections:
Rita H. Giacaman
World Vision/IOM/Save the Children
Syria/CAR
Refugee perspective - Sewimfura, Theophile - CBST/UNHCR
10:15-10:30am
Short Coffee Break
10:30-11:45am
Panel One: Violence/conflicts and its impacts on children—A review
of what we know, including findings from neuro-science
Panel Two: Resilience in children and communities affected by
conflict—Social Ecology—what promotes resilience—the role of social
and community networks
Discussants:
Ncazelo Ncube-Milo
Alison Schafer, World Vision
1:00-2:00pm
Lunch Break
1:00-2:00pm
“Ted-like Talk”
Dr. Sudhir Kakar
Psychology of religion – relevance for our times
2:15-3:30pm
Panel Three: Social and psychological factors in relation to social
cohesion and peacebuilding
Chair: Pieter Ventevogel (UNHCR)
Chair: Government of the Netherlands
Panelists:
Panelists:
Matthew Scott, World Vision
‘Peacebuilding and youth, experiences in programming ‘
Dr. Lynne Jones
“Long term impact of conflict on children – findings from a 20 year-long
study of Bosnian children who have grown up with war”
Marie de la Soudiere
“Reintegration of children affected by armed conflict and social cohesion”
Dr. James Leckman
“Child/Adolescent Psychiatry and what has been understood from
neurobiology in the context of violence and conflict”
Guglielmo Schininà (IOM)
“Play and Rituals in psychosocial programs, challenges and perspectives”
Dr. Felicity de Zulueta
“Impacts of Trauma from an Attachment Perspective”
Dr. Myrna Gannagé
“Mental health consequences of conflicts on children- my clinical
experience with the children of the war in Lebanon”
Discussants: Ahmed Bawaneh, IMC
Discussants:
Noreen M. Huni, REPSSI
Dr. James Leckman
4:00 pm
Panel Four: Culture, Gender, Norms, and Mental Health and psychosocial
well-being
Chair: Dr. Sudhir Kakar
4:00 pm
Panelists:
1:00-2:00pm
Chair: Martha Bragin, CUNY
Shekhar Seshadri
‘The importance of a cross-cultural approach to psychology’
Speakers:
Martha Bragin, CUNY
‘Gender considerations for an effective mental health and psychosocial
response – challenges’
Alastair Ager (Columbia University)
“Findings from inter-agency on Child Friendly Spaces led by World Vision in
partnership with Save the Children, UNICEF ”
Amanda Melville, UNHCR
Gender, culture and norms - Insights from UNHCR’s review of mental
health in the middle east’
Susan Bissell, UNICEF
“Supportive/Protective factors as hard to measure issues”
Wietse Toll, JHU
“New M&E Framework on MHPSS”
Discussants:
Saudamini Siegrist (UNICEF)
Guglielmo Schininà, IOM
5:00pm
9:00 am
9:15 am
Discussants:
Inka Weissbecker (IMC)
Concluding Day One
Christian Salazar, UNICEF
Day 2—27. May. 2015—Evidence and Practice
“Extended Lunch Break
‘Market Place’
12 pm
Welcome
Review of day one and objective for the day
Christian Salazar (UNICEF)
Chair: Shekhar Shesadri, NIMHANS India
Mark van Ommeren, WHO.
Low-intensity psychological interventions for people in communities
affected by adversity A new area of mental health and psychosocial work
at WHO
Wietse Tol, PCAF/JHU.
Self-Help Plus (SH+)-multimedia package for coping with adversity among
South Sudanese refugees in Uganda
Richard Bryant. UNSW
Development of a WHO low intensity intervention for children affected by
adversity
Discussants:
IMC
Alison Schafer, World Vision
10:00 am
Coffee Break
[Organizations and field offices of different organizations present their work,
new approaches, interventions, studies, evaluations in the form of posters,
videos and other methods (Creativity encouraged). Agencies who intend to
present their work/materials need to send in their materials in advance]
Includes:
IOM in the field - Video from Syria and Lebanon and Colombia, posters from
South Sudan and Nigeria
“Emergency Development Assets Profile”, EmDAP, World Vision
PSS Evaluation, Jordan UNICEF
Programming with Adolescents in Jordan, IMC
‘Psychosocial group counselling interventions in Eritrea and Syria’, CVT
Interventions by UNRWA in Gaza
UNICEF Review of MHPSS in Jordan
Community based Psychosocial support, UNICEF Lebanon
Panel Five: New models—evidence based low-intensity
psychological interventions
Atif Rahman, HDRF Pakistan.
Problem Management Plus (PM+)-testing a face-to-face intervention to
enhance self-management of common psychological problems in
Peshawar and Swat, Pakistan
Evidence in the field on MHPSS – Challenges and Opportunities
And more…
1:45pm-2pm
“Ted-like Talk”
Speaker
2 pm-3:15pm
Education as a vehicle for MHPSS: Across life-cycle—Experiences from
the field
Facilitator: Name, Save the Children
Speakers:
Laura Boone, IRC
“Healing Classrooms”
Friedrich Affolter, UNICEF
“Education as an entry point for psychosocial support and peacebuilding ”
2 pm-3:15pm
Insights from the field:
Anne-Sophie Dybdal, Save the Children
‘Schools as safe spaces’
IMC
Guglielmo Schininà
“Programming for adolescents and young adults in migration crisis and post
conflict situations”
Marie de la Soudiere
‘Psychosocial support through schools – a missed opportunity?”
Peter Ventevogel
“Programming for adolescents in displacement”
Discussants:
Jennifer Groves, OFDA
3:15pm
Coffee Break
3:30pm
Concluding Session—Plenary with Donors, UN missions, external
stakeholders
Moderator: Christian Salazar/Ted Chaiban, UNICEF
Remarks—Dr Shekhar Saxena,Director (WHO), Department of mental
health and substance abuse. UNHCR, IOM, Save the Children/World Vision
Remarks from Donors—Netherlands, USAID, Canada
Vote of Thanks: The Netherlands
CVT
Ann Willhoite
‘Psychosocial group counselling interventions in Eritrea and Syria’
Tdh
Discussants:
Inka Weissbecker (IMC)
12:30 pm
Lunch Break
1:30 pm
Group Work: Recommendations for new strategies for MHPSS in the
field
Reception—6pm—Donors, Missions, Participants hosted by the
Government of the Netherlands
Facilitator: Sabine (CPWG)
Group facilitator: UNICEF
Day 3—28. May. 2015—Workshop—Recommendations for the future
9:00 am
9:15 am
Group 1: New approaches in addition to Child Friendly Spaces (CFS)—Scaling
up Response
Welcome
Review of the first two days and setting goals for the day
Christian Salazar/Saudamini
Group Facilitator: World Vision
Group 2: Priority areas for further research/evidence
Group facilitator: UNHCR
Group 3: Coordination and response/knowledge management
Challenges in the field—Problem of Scale and New Approaches
Group Facilitator: Margriet Blaauw, MHPSS Reference Group
Facilitator: UNHCR
Speakers:
World Vision (Alison)
Tdh
REPPSI
UNHCR
Discussions
10:45 am
Coffee Break
11:00 am
Recommendations for the field (Life-cycle approach, Adolescents,
Early Childhood, Play for psychosocial well-being)
Facilitator: Judith Diers
Group 4: Capacity Building
3pm
Coffee Break
3:15 pm
New Strategies for MHPSS in the field—Plenary
Moderator: Ananda Galpati
4:30 pm
The Way Forward
Chair: Christian Salazar/Saudamini
Speakers:
Tdh , World Vision, Save the Children , UNHCR, IOM, UNICEF
4:30 pm
Conclusion
SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Affolter, Friedrich, Ed.D, is a graduate of the Center for International Education (CIE)
of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He served as the UNODC Victim
Empowerment Capacity Development Expert from 2008-1020. He is now the
Education Cluster Lead for UNICEF Sudan.
Galppatti, Ananda, co-found of MHPSS.net, is a medical anthropologist, MHPSS
Practitioner in situations of conflict, disaster and other adverse social conditions. He
has done extensive field work in Sri Lanka for the past 18 years, where he has been
involved in training, research, evaluation and coordination of services.
Dr. Ager, Alastair, Ph.D, is the Director of Academic Programs in the Heilbrunn
Department of Population and Family Health, and Director the new DrPH program in
Leadership in Global Health and Humanitarian System at the Mailman School of
Public Health. Since joining Columbia University he has also served as the Research
Director of the Care and Protection of Children in Crisis Program and as the Executive
Director of the Global Health Initiative.
Gannage, Myrna, PhD., is the Director of the Department of Psychology at Saint
Joseph in Beirut. She has extensive clinical experience working with children of war in
Lebanon and has published widely on this topic.
Bissell, Susan has been the Chief of Child Protection section at UNICEF in New York
since 2009. She first served UNICEF in 1989 in the Division of Information and Public
Affairs, in 2001 she served as the Chief of Child Protection in India, and in 2004 she
transferred to the Innocenti Research Center as a lead researcher on child rights and
child trafficking.
Bragin, Martha PhD., is Associate Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work
at Hunter College, City University of New York. A long time psychosocial and child
protection practitioner she currently specializes in developing culturally relevant and
participatory methods to measure the effectiveness of psychosocial intervention in
emergencies and post conflict situations.
Bryant, Richard PhD., is a Scientia Professor in the School of Psychology at the
University of New South Wales, and Director of the Traumatic Stress Clinic in the Brain
Dynamics Centre of the Westmead Millennium Institute.
de la Soudiere, Marie has been the Director of the Children’s Unit at IRC since 1997.
She worked with IRC in Thailand in 1979, and subsequently worked with UNHCR in
the Balkans and East Africa for many years. She has also been a consultant for
children’s programs for UNICEF in Kenya, India, Pakistan, and Sudan, and is a
consultant for national NGOS who are working with refugee children in their own
countries.
Dr. de Zulueta, Felicity, MD, FRCPsych, is an Emeritus Consultant Psychiatrist in
Psychotherapy at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and an Honorary
Senior Lecturer in Traumatic Studies at Kings College, London. She developed and
headed both the Department of Psychotherapy at Charing Cross Hospital and the
Traumatic Stress Service in the Maudsley Hospital, which specializes in the treatment
of people suffering from Complex Post Traumatic Stress disorder.
Diers, Judith PhD., is the Chief of Adolescent Development and Participation Section
within UNICEF’s Programme Division. Previously, she was a program associate for
Population Council and has more than ten years of experience working in the field of
family planning and expertise in applied, behavioral, and operations research.
Giacaman, Rita, PharmD, MPh, is the founder director, and professor of public health
at the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University. Since 2000, she
has sought to understand the impact of chronic war-like conditions and the needed
active and positive resilience and resistance to ongoing war-like conditions, especially
among youth.
Huni, Noreen M. is the Executive Director for Regional Psychosocial Support
Initiative (REPSSI). She is also the chairperson for Eastern and Southern Africa
Regional Inter-Agency Task Team on Children and Aids (RIATT). Working with UNICEF
she also spearheaded the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of
HIV in the East and Southern African regions setting out programming guidelines for
PMTCT, and orphans and vulnerable children.
Dr. Leckman, James, M.D. is the Nelson Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry,
Psychiatry, Psychology, and Pediatrics at Yale. In partnership with colleagues at
UNICEF and Mother-Child Education Foundation based in Turkey, he has begun to
explore the question whether strengthening families and enhancing child
development is a path to peace and violence prevention.
Jones, Lynne, PhD., is a child psychiatrist, relief workers, and anthropologist. She was
appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her work in child
psychiatry in conflict-affected areas of Central Europe and has established and
directed mental health programs in areas of conflict and natural disaster throughout
Latin America, the Balkans, East and West Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
Dr. Kakar, Sudhir, PhD., is a psychoanalyst trained at the Sigmund-Freud Institute in
Frankfurt, Germany. Since 1975, he has set up a practice as a psychoanalyst in Delhi
where he was also head of Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the
Indian Institute of Technology. He is a leading figure and writer in the fields of cultural
psychology and psychology of religion.
Melville, Amanda, PhD., is the Senior Protection Officer for UNHCR, focusing on
child protection. She has worked for Save the Children on strengthening child
protection systems for children affected by the Syria crisis in Lebanon and Jordan, for
UNICEF in the Jordan, Middle East Headquarters, and in Indonesia and the occupied
Palestinian territory as a child protection and psychosocial specialist.
Ncube-Milo, Ncazelo is an educational psychologist and narrative therapist with over
ten years of experience working with children and communities affected by and
infected with HIV and AIDS in East and Southern Africa. She currently works as an
independent consultant providing services that include training and capacity
development on children-centered, family, and community-focused approaches to
help alleviate trauma and hardship. She works with different organization throughout
Africa, including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
Rahman, Atif, PhD., is an adjunct professor at the University of Health Sciences
Lahore, the Institute of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi and the Health Services Academy,
Islamabad. He is also the Honorary Director of the Human Development Research
Foundation, Pakistan—a non-profit organization working in rural Pakistan developing
indigenous models of research and service for the optimal physical, mental and social
well-being of Pakistanis.
Rakotomalala, Sabine is the Deputy Coordinator of the Child Protection Working
Group (CPWG). She has over 15 years of professional experience in the field of child
protection, namely within the World Health Organization as well as child protection
emergencies adviser at Terre des homes.
Salazar, Christian, PhD., is the Deputy Director of Programmes for UNICEF, New York
Headquarters. Prior to this position, he held roles such as Representative for the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, UNICEF Representative in
Iran, and UNICEF Deputy Representative in Vietnam.
Schafer, Alyson is the Senior Program Adviser for MHPSS with World Vision
Australia/International. While her research is rooted in the influences of basic needs,
social support, and migration in South Sudan, she is also a World Vision Technical
Adviser on research of psychosocial first aid in low to middle income countries with
the World Trauma Foundation and the World Health Organization.
Schinina, Guglielmo is the head of the IOM Mental Health, Psychosocial Response
and Intercultural Communications Section and Director of the Summer School in
Psychosocial Interventions in Migration, Emergency, and Displacement at the Scuola
Sant’ Anna in Pisa.
Scott, Matthew is the Director of Peacebuilding at World Vision International. He has
spent 20 years working in the non-profit sector, ranging from disability issues,
landmines, child rights, humanitarian affairs, religious freedom, and peace and
security.
Sewimfura, Theophile is a healing, peace-building and reconciliation activist with a
background in peace studies and conflict transformation (MA). He is one of the four
field coordinators of the community-based sociotherapy program in Rwanda. From
2002 onwards he has been actively involved in the facilitation of hundreds of seminars
and workshops on healing the wounds of ethnic conflicts in post-genocide Rwanda at
Mercy Ministries.
Shesadri, Shekhar, MD, is a psychiatrist and professor of the Department of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry in NIMHANS, Bangalore. He is known for his research and
expertise in life skills training, child sexual abuse, women’s health issues, and sexual
minorities.
Siegrist, Saudamini is the Senior Adviser for Child Protection in Emergencies at
UNICEF, and previously served as Chief of Child Protection for UNICEF in the
occupied Palestinian territory and as Child Protection Specialist at the UNICEF
Innocenti Research Center.
Dr. Ungar, Michael, PhD., is researcher in the field of social and psychological
resilience. He is also the founder, co-director, and Principal Investigator of the
Resilience Research Center at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Canada.
Tol, Wietse, PhD., is the Dr. Ali & Rose Kawi Assistant Professor at the Bloomberg
School of Public Health. In his work with non-governmental and United Nations
organizations, he has focused on strengthening needs, assessments, monitoring and
evaluating strategies, and conducting systematic review to identify best practices. He
has also conducted research in Nepal, Burundi, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste.
Dr. Van Ommeren, Mark, PhD., is the Public Mental Health Adviser at the
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the World Health
Organization in Geneva, with a focus on MHPSS for people affected by emergencies.
He was also the initiator and former Co-Chair of the IASC Task Force on MHPSS in
Emergency Settings.
Dr. Weissbecker, Inka, PhD., is Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Advisor for
International Medical Corps. She specializes in the impact of disaster on mental
health, functioning and development in children and families.
Wessels, Mike, Ph.D, is Professor in the Program on Forced Migration and Health at
Mailman School of Public Health. Former Co-Chair of the IASC Task Force on MHPSS
in Emergency Settings, he is currently the lead researcher on inter-agency,
multi-country action research on strengthening community-based child protection
mechanisms by enabling effective linkages with national child protection systems.
For further information contact: Saji Thomas, Child Protection Specialist, Mental
Health and Psychosocial Support and Community-based Child Protection, UNICEF
HQ, New York - sthomas@unicef.org