Presentation In ART On ACT Psychosocial Advisory Group Annual Meeting

 
On Monday, June 7th Mr Davit Gevorgyan, member of ACT Psychosocial Advisory Group (PSAG) from Armenia, reported on the first annual meeting of PSAG to ART staff. A professional and comprehensive summary of main contexts of the Group goals, activities, plans and perspectives was introduced to ART in a power point presentation format.
              
The presentation was a valuable source of information for ART and gave the staff insight for further discussions and deliberations for potential and possibilities in regard to community based psychosocial services (CBPS) in emergency situations and development work. Leaflets of CBPS website, electronic versions of “Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings” and a facilitator’s guide “Community based psychosocial services in humanitarian assistance” provided to Group members at the annual meeting were further shared with the ART.
Several questions were raised regarding the work of the Group and its possibilities, prioritized by ART staff was the need for psychosocial activities and sharing in the development context of work as well.
ART, being concerned with the improvement of capacities towards mitigating effects of natural and man-made disasters and humanitarian emergencies in regions of Armenia, is interested in PSAG outcomes and considerations on a project and practical base within ART programmes, such as ART planned "ACT Organizational Capacity Development" project, which is aiming to build local capacity for emergency work. ART will also take into thought participation in training of trainers on psychosocial community based work discussed within the PSAG. ART will pay attention to raising awareness on disaster preparedness and response, developing community based psychosocial support system with active participation of community and respective stakeholders in emergency related activities and projects.