27 May 2024
We are pleased to launch a joint policy brief, now available in Arabic, titled: ‘Integration of Mental Health Approaches and Psychosocial Support in Syria’.
The policy brief is authored by Eveline de Bruijn and An Michels, and was written in partnership with The Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison, The Center on International Cooperation, Impunity Watch, and Women Now For Development. The policy brief provides the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria with concrete and practical recommendations on how to integrate a mental health approach and the provision of psychosocial support into the different elements of the institution. It also discusses preparatory measures to ensure that capacities and structures are put in place to ensure a truly trauma-informed approach in the implementation of the institution’s mandate.
English report NEW: Arabic report
What are the recommendations?
This policy brief provides the Independent Institution on Missing Persons (IIMP) in Syria with concrete and practical recommendations on how to integrate a mental health approach and the provision of psychosocial support into the different elements of the institution, as well as preparatory measures to ensure that capacities and structures are put in place to ensure a truly trauma-informed approach in the implementation of the institution’s mandate.
The recommendations are based on existing frameworks, guidelines and lessons learned from other contexts, and include input, reflections and reviews from representatives of Syrian non-governmental organisations with direct experience in providing mental health services to victims and survivors of torture and families of missing persons. They are:
- Develop a policy and strategy for MHPSS that is gender-sensitive and includes relevant protocols at the beginning of the institution’s establishment
- Ensure that the integration of a MHPSS approach goes beyond mainstreaming or the recruitment of a psychologist
- Ensure a systematic mental health approach to the different functions of the institution
- Prioritise the principle of ‘do no harm’ in all areas of the institution’s work
- Conduct an annual review of this pioneering aspect of the institution’s work, in order to better understand new or unforeseen challenges and be ready to adapt to address them more effectively
The report elaborates that search activities for the missing should be based on a trauma-informed, survivor-centred and ethical methodology. Last but not least, psychosocial support provided by the institution should be limited to those directly interacting with the institution as part of its support function.
Background
On 29 June 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution establishing the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. This resolution represents a unique opportunity and is a direct response to a long-standing demand by families of missing persons and survivors of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance.
The UN resolution indicates that the institution will include both a search function and support to victims, including mental health approaches and psychosocial support (MHPSS). Accordingly, the new institution has the potential to play a pioneering role in integrating mental health and psychosocial support into the core structure of its work, in developing strategies for psychosocial support to victims and families of the missing, and in providing mental health support to staff.
Find out more about our work on Syria