Capacity strengthening, Research

Child and family MHPSS in emergencies course

July 20, 2022

Call for expressions of interest for staff and volunteers in Uganda and Zimbabwe

Do you work or volunteer with children and families in emergency settings in Uganda or Zimbabwe? Do you want to help reduce suffering and to improve mental health and psychosocial wellbeing among the children and families you work with? Participate in our 36 hours course to increase your skills and knowledge to respond to mental health and psychosocial support concerns for children and families.

We invite participants from various sectors, such as social welfare, teachers, health, childcare, early childhood development, child protection, adolescent development and participation, disability, nutrition, and law and justice, as well as in various leadership positions such as religious leaders, youth leaders, women leaders, social justice leaders, and governmental leaders.

The course

introduces child and family mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) as a life-saving priority in emergency settings;
engages in competency (knowledge, skills, ethics and values) development in working safely and effectively with children and families in emergency settings;
equips learners to engage in the development of community-based child and family MHPSS programming, grounded in evidence-informed practice, in an intersectional, rights-based approach responsive to age, gender, and disability;
provides practical orientation and training on psychosocial skills, assessment of and response to children’s, adolescents’, and caregivers’ psychosocial needs and distress, and identification and referral of children/adolescents and families at-risk for mental health and psychosocial conditions;

presents key theoretical concepts for child and family MHPSS and other content using interactive teaching/training methods, including play!

The organizations behind the course

The course is funded by UNICEF and offered by the MHPSS Collaborative and APSSI.

The MHPSS Collaborative is a global hub for MHPSS research, innovation, learning and advocacy. We build connections, knowledge, and new ways to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children, youth, and families in adversity.

APSSI – The Africa Psychosocial Support Institute is a subsidiary of REPSSI- Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative, established to be a global mental health technical leader that will advance professionalism and excellence in afrocentric knowledge, practice and policy for mental health and psychosocial support. APSSI develops academic as well as short courses, delivers customized short trainings in psychosocial support and mental health and develops manuals, tools, and approaches to foster improved mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.

To express interest in joining the course you must

Be 18 years or older;
Be staff or volunteer with an organization; (humanitarian/development/government/education etc) with engagement or interest in child and family mental health and psychosocial support
Be directly engaged with children or families as community workers, frontline workers, community volunteers, community facilitators, community helpers, community leaders (formal and informal) etc.
Holder of a high school (ordinary level) diploma or equivalent degree.

Have access to a device and stable internet access for the online portion of the course

Practical information:

The course runs from 24 September to end of November and includes 36 hours of teaching (online and in-person), app. 20 hours of reading and 10 hours supervision.
Commitment of one day per week from 24th September to end of November to attend the sessions
The course is blended, with in-person (20 hours) and on-line (16 hours) sessions
The locations of the in-person trainings will be decided based on the location of the majority of the participants

The course is free of cost to attend, and participants will receive USD 30 per person to help with costs associated with attending the in-person sessions.
Maximum 40 participants per country (if more people express interest we will select participants based on the having a diverse group in terms of sectors, professional backgrounds, gender and roles in the community).
If you are selected to participate in the course you will receive an email with further instructions for registering. Please note that you are required to have the approval of your manager for participation in the course