ReliefWeb

Working together

By Nana Wiedemann, Director of the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support

When we send this newsletter out all over the world we often wonder: Who are the readers? What do they like to read about?

All over the world Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies are working with Psychosocial Support both in their national and international programmes.

The awareness of psychosocial support in the Movement has increased rapidly over the last thirteen years. Disaster preparedness and response; care for vulnerable groups; care for carers; and support for workers and volunteers are just some of the areas of psychosocial support. In many parts of the world people working with psychosocial support are getting together and forming networks.

We believe that circulating knowledge, documentation and lessons learned is a very important objective for the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support (PS Centre). We want this newsletter to reflect what is going on in the field. It should reflect the tendencies of the time and enable all of us to take part in discussions and dialogue between different partners. To have a lively newsletter, we need input from you the readers. Send us articles about your work with psychosocial support. Write to us about upcoming events such as regional meetings and conferences. Raise issues that constitute dilemmas and food for thought. We cannot share with you unless you share with us.

That is also why we recently asked you to answer our online questionnaire to help us improve the quality of Coping with Crisis. We still hope to get more answers so we will keep the survey open a little while longer. Please help us by participating in the survey – it will only take you five minutes.

We are also compiling lists of psychosocial support delegates and consultants so that we can get in touch with you whenever assistance is needed, set up meetings and training and arrange workshops. Write to us, tell us what you do, what you need and who you are.

Share information with us and participate in a process that will enable all of us to learn more about how psychosocial programmes and interventions take place all over the world.

Help us so that we can learn from each other and help the PS Centre to be as good as possible.