Reporting on gender-based violence, especially during crises such as #COVID-19, is a difficult and sensitive task. When ethical reporting standards are not followed, it can place the lives of survivors at risk. @UNFPAIraq’s guidelines provide journalists with key steps to follow when communicating these difficult stories. SEED has worked with UNFPA to make these [...]
Nagham*, a 21 year old Yezidi girl, currently lives in an IDP camp after ISIS invaded her home town of Shingal (Sinjar), where she grew up with her family. After the ISIS invasion, life became extremely unsafe and Nagham and her family were forced to flee to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Although they [...]
As SEED’s community coordinators and mobilizers logged on one by one to the video call and greeted each other, there was both excitement and curiosity for the first remote psychosocial support (PSS) training for staff since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). This was the start of a two-day training in [...]
To promote improved services to some of the most vulnerable and violence-affected people in the world, SEED Foundation worked with a broad range of stakeholders to develop a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Standard of Care Model, tailor made for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Delivering high quality services to meet the [...]
"In Iraq, the SEED Foundation has created parallel lines of management and technical supervision for frontline staff. Technical supervisors provide frontline staff support with the clinical and more technical aspects of the implementation of their activities – community based MHPSS, mental health and case management – and also conduct field visits to support front [...]
SEED’s mental health advisor, Anne Lepelaars, spoke to Julie Meier to help frame her research for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, about the challenges to providing mental health and psychosocial support services in Iraq. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Iraq: Challenges and Solutions Julie Meier | July 27, 2020 | Georgetown Journal [...]
Shelter-in-place orders, restricted movements and government closures, necessary measures to slow the spread of the COVID-19 in Kurdistan, have resulted in a financial crisis leaving many migrant workers unemployed, and with compromised legal status as work permits expired. International travel bans meant those undertaking domestic work were unable to return to their home countries, and [...]
SEED continuously strives to strengthen its services to meet the needs of the communities it serves. One of the gaps that was identified was the need for a specialized group response to benefit from support of peers with similar challenges. This need could be addressed by launching an adapted version of group therapy for camp [...]
It has been well documented that COVID-19 measures of social isolation and movement restrictions can impact and exacerbate pre-existing symptoms, especially for those with mental health needs or at risk of gender based violence (GBV). Preventative health measures limit access to in-person support and coping activities that our clients often rely on to deal with [...]
The subject of mental health, stress, and wellbeing are often regarded as taboo in Kurdish culture. With the COVID-19 restriction measures, periods of lockdown that Kurdistan has endured since March, and increased economic hardship, it has become increasingly important to take care of our mental health. In addition to adapting to remote, by phone or [...]