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Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?
YesThe commitments are incorporated into:
Operational planAt the National level
Explanation:
We developed a 6-months plan of MHPSS operations, which is regularly updated and renewed. At the moment, we’re also developing a sustainability plan for MHPSS operations.
We also have a policy and framework on Caring for Staff and Volunteers, which reflects on the commitments in the resolution, including early access to mental health support and psychosocial support by affected people, investing in community based actions and strengthening local capacities, enhancing cooperation with public authorities, ensuring that mental health support is addressed also in other areas of humanitarian work, addressing stigma, exclusion and discrimination through communications campagins, supporting mental health of staff and volunteers through peer to peer support and suppervisions.
We drafted the strategic document related to MHPSS support and provisionat the HQ and then disseminated them for implementation across our branches.
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Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?
YesPartner with:
National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in your country
ICRC/IFRC
Other National Red Cross or Red Crescent Societies
Humanitarian and development partners (e.g. UN, NGOs etc.)Examples of cooperation:
IFRC: We have been working very closely with IFRC on launch and development of MHPSS programme, including having IFRC MHPSS delegate in Bratislava Office (the SRC Headquarters). The partnership with IFRC has been instrumental in developing our MHPSS programme which did not exist formally prior to 2022.
ICRC: We have also been working with our RFL colleagues (i.e. ICRC link) on disseminating MHPSS information, particularly on self-care and wellbeing, plus have also trained the RFL staff on Psychological First Aid. They have also run induction sessions on RFL at our trainings on Community-Based MHPSS in our community centres dedicated to MHPSS.
Government: We are part of the Committee on Psychosocial Support in MHPSS. It is the permanent coordinating, consultative and specialist body of the Slovak Government Council on mental health.
Other NS: We are in regular contact with our Czech counterparts and are currently to run multilateral training on supportive supervisions (bringing together 4 NS: Czech, Slovak, Lithuanian and Luxembourg).
NGOs: We work with the League for Mental Health at regional level as with one of our key referral organisations providing psycho-therapeutic support to our beneficiaries (tier 3 of MHPSS pyramid). We have also engaged in discussion with UNHCR Slovakia Office upon recommendation from PS Centre in planning PFA trainings for their staff and community of Ukrainian beneficiaries.
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Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?
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Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?
YesType of Impact:
Cooperation between Government/public authorities and National Society has been strengthened
Innovative tools/methodologies have been developed and are utilized
Partnerships with other humanitarian actors have been created or enhanced
Training and capacity of staff and volunteers has increased (for National Societies)Details about the impact:
As indicated above, our NS did not have a formal MHPSS programme prior to 2022, though a lot of MHPSS services have been provided across the existing programmes, particularly among first responders and first aid providers. Implementing the commitments within the Resolution and grants via IFRC helped us to launch MHPSS as a programme in its own right that entails strategic planning of trainings and implementation of standards. From 2023 to date (June 2024), we have trained nearly 600 staff and volunteers, including Ukrainians in psychological first aid and c. 60 staff and volunteers (incl. Ukrainians) in Community-Based MHPSS. We have also introduced and are currently piloting supportive supervisions nationwide as part of fidelity and caring for staff and volunteers.
We have also founded 6 community centres dedicated to community-based MHPSS, all of them staffed with Slovaks and Ukrainians. Our NS is also increasingly seen as the PFA training provider nationwide.
We have become member of the forementioned Committee on Psychosocial Support in MHPSS that operates under the Slovak Government Council on Mental Health. We have also participated in the first-ever national conference on mental health convened by WHO (Slovak Office) and NGO TENENET. It is envisaged that these conferences will continue on regular basis.
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Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?
YesDescription of the impact:
The MHPSS programme at our NS emerged formally in response to the Ukraine crisis. Its development has been largely dependent on the engagement of target communities in needs identification and mapping, and design and delivery of activities. That gives them a sense of agency and ownership, as well as interconnectedness that has positive effect on both Ukrainian refugee and Slovak host community.
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