http://www.crin.org/docs/PSS - Summary_Paper_and_contacts - 0808.pdf
Below is a short version of the project summary, which is available at the link above.
See also the full reports:
Introduction
Psychosocial support comprises all activities that promote the psychological and social well-being and development of children. Fundamental goals of psychosocial support to children are to build up their resilience, to help them overcome trauma and distress and to assist them in developing a sense of belonging, trust in others and themselves and in hope in the future.
Important components of psychosocial support programmes are the construction of secure attachments with caregivers, meaningful peer relationships and social ties as well as the creation of access to opportunities for cognitive and spiritual development and physical and economic security.
In regions like West Africa, where many children are living on the streets, are trafficked and/or exploited for child labour (domestic servants, miners etc.) or are forced into combat in a civil war, psychosocial support interventions are a key strategy for developing human capital.
Despite the difficult living conditions in West Africa, little research has been conducted on the needs of children suffering from psychological distress and on the efficiency of existing psychosocial support. In order to close this gap and wanting to learn more about the impact of poverty, armed conflict, political instability and HIV and AIDS on children’s development, Plan and the USAID funded project AWARE-HIV and AIDS of Family Health international have implemented a five-country research entitled “Psychosocial support to children in difficult circumstances” .
Objectives and methods
The study has been implemented from January 07 to June 08 with the support of seven regional consultants and 17 national consultants. The overall objectives were to improve the offer of psychosocial support services for children in West Africa and to establish and support a network of providers (individuals and organisations) by means of two strategies:
(1) The assessment of the mental health state and psychosocial needs of children in five different high risk contexts;
(2) The analysis of existing services in the West African region in order to identify best practices and lessons learnt.
(1) Strategy I: Assessment of the mental health state and psychosocial needs of children
We conducted field studies in five countries investigating different high risk contexts: child trafficking in Togo, war affected communities in Sierra Leone and Liberia, communities with high HIV prevalence in Cameroon and communities with many repatriated families from Côte d’Ivoire in Burkina Faso. A gender sensitive approach was adopted by choosing a methodology that carefully studied experiences specific to girls and boys.
The selection of children was carried out within narrow sampling frames and compared with a control group. In Togo, for example, 100 survivors of child trafficking were compared with 100 children that had never been trafficked.
In each country, we recruited a team of local child psychologists or psychosocial counselors. After the training, the research teams lived for two to three months in the communities previously identified for the data collection for facilitating discussions with and interviewing the children. The age range of the participating children was from 8 to 20 years. The children were identified during games and focus group discussions and through a “child to child” approach: former participants indicated further potential respondents corresponding to the criteria of the exposure group.
The large majority of children showed a great willingness to share their experiences once they realised that someone was listening to them without taking positions or criticizing them for their opinions. Very few dropped out of the interview. To ensure good ethical practices in all phases of conducting the research, the teams emphasized privacy and confidentiality of all participants. Consent was obtained from the participants themselves as well as from a parent or guardian. Apart from the sample study, we conducted in each country several case studies and focus group discussions.
Strategy II: The analysis of existing services in all countries of the West African region
We carried out on site institutional analysis with organizations providing psychosocial support in 10 West African countries in order to explore best practices and lessons learnt. The proceeding was as follows: we gathered names of practitioners and institutions in the region using a snow-balling technique. During the research process, all identified contacts were pre-screened by email. Among the responding institutions, 7 Anglophone and 16 Francophone institutions in 10 different West African countries were selected for on-site visits that were carried out by four regional experts.
Follow-up project of the research: assistance to severely affected children
The first, and very dramatic, results of the field studies were the high incidence of suicide risk and of physical and sexual abuse among the interviewed boys and girls. About 20 per cent of the interviewed children were in acute danger of committing suicide at the moment of the interview and needed immediate assistance: they have been exposed to war atrocities, exploitation or maltreatment: namely rape and gang rape, sexual abuse and the worst forms of domestic violence.
The greater part of the severely affected children were girls. Some of them have had babies, often as a result of rape, and were not able to take care of their children because of their own psychological and social living conditions. Others have lost their children and suffer from guilt and remorse on top of the trauma generated by the abuse.
While we expected to be confronted with difficult findings, the dramatic nature of the results compelled us to look for immediate support for the most affected children. In order to fulfill our ethical commitment and due to lack of referral possibilities, Plan West Africa set up, in each participating country, mobile psychosocial support units which have been providing the necessary support to all interviewed children identified as being subjected to ongoing severe physical or sexual abuse or assessed with a high risk of suicide. The activities put into practice by the psychosocial mobile units included counseling, suicide prevention, trauma healing, traditional healing ceremonies, fairy tales sessions and family mediations, medical and social assistance (financial support for school / apprenticeship equipment and fees) as well as a follow- up by the Social Affairs Departments or local NGOs of the relevant country.
In the first three study countries, Togo, Burkina Faso and Cameroon, the projects teams have provided assistance to about 30 children (per country), a number which represents approximately 15 per cent of the interviewed children. In the post-conflict countries, however, the number of severely affected children encountered during the research was much higher: the project teams in Sierra Leone and Liberia were obliged to include more than 35 per cent of the interviewed children in the follow up project.
Conclusion and recommendations
As a result of the exposure to violence, abuse, neglect, discrimination and exploitation, many children in West Africa are vulnerable to HIV, suicidality and mental disorders, they lack self esteem and energy to engage with their environment and to actively learn about the world. The level of psychosocial impairment and distress vary considerably from country to country, highlighting the importance of operational research and locally specific knowledge in both advocacy and programming. In many settings, girls are more vulnerable than boys.
The reduced mental health of children living in communities recovering from long periods of civil war is particularly disquieting. Without adequate psychosocial assistance, many of the children living in such areas will fail to integrate in the society and they are very likely to reproduce the endured violence on others endangering the peace building processes of their countries. At the present time, there is only very limited technical and financial capacity to respond to the psychosocial needs of thousands of severely affected children in West Africa.
Governments, child protection and rights agencies as well as development organisation are confronted with a very serious situation of ever growing numbers of children, vulnerable to HIV and unable to contribute to the development of their countries due to mental health impairments. We propose the following strategies to African governments, the African Union, the ECOWAS as well as the United Nations agencies and the non-governmental organisations to improve the existing conditions/ circumstances:
- To integrate a mental health component in public health programs and national health agendas that takes into account the psychosocial needs of children and parents.
- To build up the capacity of the concerned Ministries and non-governmental organisations on how to develop and implement effective psychosocial support programs to severely affected children.
- To set up permanent psychosocial mobile units that can mitigate the impact of political crises or unrest, natural disaster, armed conflicts and displacements.
- To incorporate psychological support activities in child protection and support to vulnerable children projects.
For the implementation of psychosocial support programs, we recommend the following strategies:
• To avoid AIDS and orphan specific responses and to develop holistic strategies for vulnerable children instead;
• To adapt gender sensitive approaches in order to be able to respond to the specific needs of girls and boys;
• To strengthen family coping mechanism and to support caregivers to take care of their children. Programmes should not target the children directly without the implication of the caregiver.
For further information:
Alice Behrendt
Project Manager, Researcher & Clinical Psychologist
E-mail: Alice.Behrendt@plan-international.org
Plan West Africa Regional Office (WARO)
Sicap Amitie II, N° 4023
PO. Box 21121
Dakar Ponty, Senegal
Tel: (+221) 33 869 74 30
Fax: (+221) 33 825 55 00
www.plan-international.org/wherewework/westafrica
Prof. Serigne Mor Mbaye,
Project Advisor, Researcher, Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist
E-mail: serignemor54@yahoo.fr
Centre de Guidance Infantile et Familial (CEGID)
15 route de Front de Terre, Dakar
Tel: (+221) 77 2493913
Previous Publication (general) items
- 15/09/2008: EGYPT: Violence against children
- 15/09/2008: CHILE: Informe anual sobre derechos humanos
- 12/09/2008: Comment la Convention s'y prend-elle pour faire respecter les droits de l'enfant?
- 12/09/2008: EXPLOTACIÓN SEXUAL: Declaración de los adolescentes y jóvenes en la reunión preparatoria regional de niños, niñas y adolescentes
- 11/09/2008: GEORGIA: Aftermaths of war for children
Organisation Contact Details:
Plan International - West Africa
136 Sotrac Mermoz
BP 21121
Dakar-Ponty
Tel: +221 33 869 7430
Email: stefanie.conrad@plan-international.org
Website:
Last updated 16/09/2008 06:06:58
Have your say!
RSS feed for this item
Children's Rights WIKI
CRIN on Twitter
Send to a friend