WHO CARES ABOUT HELPERS? WE CARE!

The IPP project is committed to building strong partnerships in civil protection and disaster risk management with respect to Mental Health and Psychosocial support to helpers in pandemics and aims to support civil protection and disaster risk management actors. The targeted region of the project, funded by the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, is South Caucasus, with special regard to Armenia and Georgia.

Within the framework of the project an online library has been developed. The online media library – WHO CARES – is an effective, appropriate and innovative way of dissemination and exchange of knowledge, good practices and expertise. The platform shares information, experience and lessons learned between the key stakeholders in the humanitarian sector and coordinating activities to reach and support helpers in pandemics and bring together governmental, non-governmental organizations and professional groups in the region.

Real stories, real people, real feelings!

Two national conferences took place at the end of September 2022  together with actors from the networks in Tbilisi, Georgia and in Yerevan, Armenia.

During the conferences, MHPSS experts talked about the importance of mental health for helpers who performed under pressure throughout the pandemic. Conference participants also had the opportunity to meet those who shared “Voices from the Field” personally. They shared how they perceive the situation and what keeps them going in times of hardship.

The journey continues

A follow up project “Who Cares” will from January 2023 on, continue to focus on expanding sustainable knowledge sharing via the online library and strengthening capacities and skills by implementing MHPSS concepts through trainings and practical on-line tools in the partner countries Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. At the same time new data will be gathered through joint collaboration of practitioners and academia on MHPSS needs that emerge from conflicts, pandemics and the intersection of both. That way the Who Cares project is dedicated to contributing to both, capacity-development and science, while at the same time driving forward the development of existing networks towards multidisciplinary thematic communities.