KRG improves mental health services, but number of NGOs drops
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In a region suffering from years of conflict, health officials report seeing improvements in mental health services, though the number of international health agencies working in the field in the Kurdistan Region has dwindled to just a handful, despite the continued need.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) meets monthly with international non-government organizations (NGO) for status reports on ongoing projects and discussions on how any obstacles met could possibly be overcome with the ministry's support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees living inside and outside of camps, but still require much needed assistance.
Although the mental health director has been hosting the monthly meetings for four years, Dr. Rezan Rashwani, Director of Mental Health for the KRG, said she's only seen improvement within the last year or so once the MoH started training primary healthcare units about the mental health gap within the region.
Rashwani told Rudaw English that previously there were between 25 and 30 NGOs in the region that took part in the meetings, but as contracts expired and many organizations have left, the number has decreased to between six or seven organizations currently operating in the Kurdistan Region.
A three-day training hosted by the Physicians for Human Rights for the MoH will begin on Wednesday.
"Physicians for Human Rights will come from the United States and London and will train us about how to register the war crimes, especially what happened with the Yezidi girls," Rashwani explained, adding that this would be their third training session in an ongoing training program across the three governorates of the Kurdistan Region to benefit doctors, especially forensic doctors, to help in improving documentation of war crimes.
The Ministries of Health from Erbil, Duhok, Sulaimani, and Baghdad will be taking part in the training sessions.
The monthly meetings of health care providers have helped to focus the provision of services.
"Before these meetings, many organizations were doing their own work, but I wasn't notified of who was doing what," Rashwani said after the April monthly meeting held on Tuesday morning.
"So by these meetings, you'll let everybody know about your work and where and when and who are carrying out projects so that services used where they are needed and not duplicated," she added.
Rashwani said that is okay for the different NGOs to work within the same areas or camps, but it's important not to duplicate their work when services could be allocated in other areas which may need assistance.
"In fact, sometimes maybe they are asking each other for help," she said, which has in turn allowed opportunities for NGOs to network with other organizations carrying out similar work to theirs.
Related: Seminar examines mental health challenges in post-conflict Iraq
The MHPSS (Mental Health and Psychosocial Support) Working Group Meeting, as it is called, has been held monthly for the last four years by the Ministry of Health and co-chaired by International Medical Corps (IMC) and Terre des Hommes (TDH) Italy.
Participants include European NGOs Terre Des Hommes, Un Ponte Per, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the US-based International Medical Corp (IMC), the Social, Education and Economic Development Foundation (SEED Foundation), as well as the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR.
In collaboration with the KRG's Ministry of Health, all of these organizations are working on capacity building, lobbying and coordination, and documentation and research.
Ibrahim Abou Khalil from IMC said that the organizations each provide different types of mental health services to IDPs and refugees within different areas and camps, but it has caused problems because these sessions haven't been communicated to the MoH.
"From now on the most sustainable approach is to support MoH in training their staff because they are there in the mental health centers," Khalil said. "This is the way forward."
"Our job as local or international organizations is to support the efforts of MoH so whatever we are doing on the ground in implementing or developing in terms of projects, should eventually and ultimately lead into the capacity building or rebuilding on the system that's really, really heavily damaged," Khalil added.
The Kurdistan Region is hosting 1.46 million refugees and IDPs, as of figures released in mid-December. According to the IOM, 2.27 million Iraqi’s remain displaced while 3.57 million have returned home, as of mid-March.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) meets monthly with international non-government organizations (NGO) for status reports on ongoing projects and discussions on how any obstacles met could possibly be overcome with the ministry's support for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees living inside and outside of camps, but still require much needed assistance.
Although the mental health director has been hosting the monthly meetings for four years, Dr. Rezan Rashwani, Director of Mental Health for the KRG, said she's only seen improvement within the last year or so once the MoH started training primary healthcare units about the mental health gap within the region.
Rashwani told Rudaw English that previously there were between 25 and 30 NGOs in the region that took part in the meetings, but as contracts expired and many organizations have left, the number has decreased to between six or seven organizations currently operating in the Kurdistan Region.
A three-day training hosted by the Physicians for Human Rights for the MoH will begin on Wednesday.
"Physicians for Human Rights will come from the United States and London and will train us about how to register the war crimes, especially what happened with the Yezidi girls," Rashwani explained, adding that this would be their third training session in an ongoing training program across the three governorates of the Kurdistan Region to benefit doctors, especially forensic doctors, to help in improving documentation of war crimes.
The Ministries of Health from Erbil, Duhok, Sulaimani, and Baghdad will be taking part in the training sessions.
The monthly meetings of health care providers have helped to focus the provision of services.
"Before these meetings, many organizations were doing their own work, but I wasn't notified of who was doing what," Rashwani said after the April monthly meeting held on Tuesday morning.
"So by these meetings, you'll let everybody know about your work and where and when and who are carrying out projects so that services used where they are needed and not duplicated," she added.
Rashwani said that is okay for the different NGOs to work within the same areas or camps, but it's important not to duplicate their work when services could be allocated in other areas which may need assistance.
"In fact, sometimes maybe they are asking each other for help," she said, which has in turn allowed opportunities for NGOs to network with other organizations carrying out similar work to theirs.
Related: Seminar examines mental health challenges in post-conflict Iraq
The MHPSS (Mental Health and Psychosocial Support) Working Group Meeting, as it is called, has been held monthly for the last four years by the Ministry of Health and co-chaired by International Medical Corps (IMC) and Terre des Hommes (TDH) Italy.
Participants include European NGOs Terre Des Hommes, Un Ponte Per, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the US-based International Medical Corp (IMC), the Social, Education and Economic Development Foundation (SEED Foundation), as well as the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR.
In collaboration with the KRG's Ministry of Health, all of these organizations are working on capacity building, lobbying and coordination, and documentation and research.
Ibrahim Abou Khalil from IMC said that the organizations each provide different types of mental health services to IDPs and refugees within different areas and camps, but it has caused problems because these sessions haven't been communicated to the MoH.
"From now on the most sustainable approach is to support MoH in training their staff because they are there in the mental health centers," Khalil said. "This is the way forward."
"Our job as local or international organizations is to support the efforts of MoH so whatever we are doing on the ground in implementing or developing in terms of projects, should eventually and ultimately lead into the capacity building or rebuilding on the system that's really, really heavily damaged," Khalil added.
The Kurdistan Region is hosting 1.46 million refugees and IDPs, as of figures released in mid-December. According to the IOM, 2.27 million Iraqi’s remain displaced while 3.57 million have returned home, as of mid-March.