1. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidance on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
Pau Pérez-Sales
Psychosocial and Mental Health Advisor. Médicos del Mundo España. IASC Task Force member on behalf of MdM-E / IAVC
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

2. Why inter-agency guidance?
Enough consensus on good practices to develop interagency guidance
Transcend ideological debates
Facilitate addressing of a range of issues (from protecting and improving social well-being to severe mental disorder)
Multiple needs in multiple sectors: no humanitarian actor can address needs alone
Reduce inappropriate practices
Less chaos: facilitate coordinated response on priority issues
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

3. (see UN General Assembly Resolution 48/57)
Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Committee of heads of large humanitarian agencies responsible for global humanitarian policy
(see UN General Assembly Resolution 48/57)
10 UN agencies (e.g. UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF, WHO)
Red Cross movement (IFRC and ICRC)
3 large NGO consortia (InterAction, ICVA, SCHR) covering 100s of INGOs.
IOM
World Bank
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

4. IASC Task Force: 27 agencies - 1 year mandate
IRC
MdM-E
Mercy Corps
MSF-H
Oxfam GB
RET
SC-UK
SC-USA
IASC bodies
ICVA
IFRC
Interaction
IOM
OCHA
UNFPA
UNHCR
UNICEF
WFP
WHO
Individual INGOs:
ACF
Am. Red Cross
Action Aid Int.
CARE Austria
CCF
HNI-TPO
IMC
ICMC
INEE
UN-NGO co-chaired (WHO & InterAction)
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

5. How the Guidelines Were Developed
Broad consultative, participatory process
Task Force formed by IASC Working Group in 2005
Collaboratively developed content & structure
Agencies responsible for drafting different parts of the Guidelines
Drew on field experience of leading practitioners
Multiple reviews by diverse actors

6. Target audience
authorities, personnel and organizations operating in emergency settings at international, national and local levels.
for use by workers of diverse disciplines and sectors:
Disaster management
Human rights
Protection
Health
Education
Shelter
Water and sanitation
Food security
Nutrition
Camp management,
Community development
Mass communication
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

7. Document structure Chapter 1: Pre-amble (6 pages)
Chapter 2: Matrix covering 26 minimum response interventions
(7 pages)
Chapter 3: 26 action sheets (approx.
4 pages each) (total 104 pages)
Total: doc of approx 115 pages + matrix poster + CD-ROM
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

8. Core principles Help, but foremost, do no harm
Promote human rights and equity
Maximize participation
Building on available
resources and capacities
5. Facilitate multi-layered supports
6. Facilitate integrated support systems
IASC Task Force on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies

9. World Health Organization
Key principle: multi-layered responses
World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Examples:
Mental health care by mental health specialists (psychiatric nurse, psychologist, psychiatrist etc)
Specialised
services
Basic mental health care by PHC doctors
Basic emotional and practical support by community workers
Focused (person-to-person) non-specialised supports
Activating social networks
Communal traditional supports
Supportive child-friendly spaces
Community and family supports
Strengthening community and family supports
Advocacy for basic services that are safe, socially appropriate and protect dignity
Basic services and security
Social considerations in basic services and security 9

10. Multisectoral Guidance
Example: The design of sites and shelters often causes distress owing to over-crowding, lack of privacy, and lack of safety at latrines
Key Actions:
- organize shelters in ways that promote privacy and reduce overcrowding
- provide adequate lighting around lockable sanitation facilities

11. World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Examples of practical do's and don’t's in the IASC Guidelines (see pages 11-13, field guide)
Build local capacities, supporting self-help and strengthening the resources already present in affected groups.
After trainings on MHPSS provide follow up supervision and monitoring to ensure the interventions are implemented correctly.
Do not organise supports that undermine or ignore local responsibilities and capacities.
Do not use one-time stand alone trainings or very short trainings without follow-up if preparing people to perform complex psych interventions

12. World Health Organization
28 March 2017
Matrix of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support: All Have Impact on Protecting MHPS Well-being
Coordination
Assessment, monitoring and evaluation
Human rights standards
Human resources
Community mobilisation and support(*)
Health services
Education
Dissemination of information
Food security and nutrition
Shelter and site planning
Water and sanitation
MHPSS is an inter-sectoral, or mainstreaming concern. You can improve our MHPSS influence by taking A Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Lens across all our programs
See Chapter 2 matrix with columns
Preparedness
25 minimum responses (see poster)
Comprehensive responses 12 12

13. World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
On early recovery
Early recovery is about planning for recovery from day one of a crisis
IASC Guidelines is mostly about minimum response for emergencies but Chapter 2 (full matrix) contains many suggestions for "comprehensive response"

14. Examples of ideas for early recovery (see Chap 2 of IASC Guidelines)
World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Examples of ideas for early recovery (see Chap 2 of IASC Guidelines)
Support safe community reintegration for displaced persons, especially isolated ones
Provide the space for victims and survivors to discuss issues of reparation (economic, judicial, symbolic) to be addressed by responsible parties
Facilitate recording of historical memory of how the community has dealt with the emergency
Strengthen the MHPSS system, including referral mechanisms
Strengthen mobilisation of community resources for self-help

15. Examples of ideas for early recovery (see Chap 2 of IASC Guidelines)
World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Examples of ideas for early recovery (see Chap 2 of IASC Guidelines)
Organise discussions on helpful and harmful traditional practices
Build local organizations' capacities to help parents to provide quality care for young children
Develop national plan/policy for mental health
Integrate mental health care in PHC
Develop community mental health services
Follow up on psychosocial support programmes offered in schools
Support reliable and accessible systems of accurate dissemination of information, including on returns/resettlement/repatriation

16. World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
For health sector there is no other opportunity for mental health services development/reform than the political aftermath of humanitarian crises
Macedonia
occupied Palestinian territory
Peru
Sri Lanka
Timor-Lesle
. . . among others
Positive examples
Albania
China
Indonesia
Iraq
Jordan
Kosovo

17. Applications of IASC Guidelines
World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Applications of IASC Guidelines
Some major donors only fund consistent with IASC Guidelines
30,000 copies in print
Available in many languages
Promoted heavily by agencies
Special journal issue of Intervention
Increasingly used also in rich countries (Japan, Slovenia)
Used for identification of gaps in Philippines
Use picture version to mobilize community in Peru
Moved people beyond counselling in Kenya
Adopted by 4 ministries Gov in Philippines as policy
Training in Iran informed by and consistent with IASC
Used for planning in Ethiopia
Common framework in Myanmar, Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza

18. World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Final remarks
There is a responsability of all (including Donors) to promote and facilitate internationally accepted best practices
There is a potential to do harm – Need to work on consensus and tested programms
The IASC Guidelines is the point of a hallmark and a consensus standard for best practices at the short and middle term after emergencies

19. World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Final remarks
You can download a copy of the Guidelines in English, French, Spanish, Arab on many web sites, the IASC website among them.
You can have a hard copy of the Field Version (not Full Version) at the entrance
Thanks

20. Sphere 2004: minimum standard for mental and social aspects of health
World Health Organization
April 22, 2009
Sphere 2004: minimum standard for mental and social aspects of health
4 psychological/psychiatric interventions
Psychological first aid for people with acute anxiety
Care in PHC for urgent psychiatric problems
Continue care for people with severe mental illness in previous care
Initiate more comprehensive response
8 social interventions
Eg restart schooling, give information,
community-self help, etc