Final Announcement of the Annual Online Forum 2020 of the IFRC’s European Network for Psychosocial Support
Host National Society: German Red Cross (Digital format)
Part 1: Friday 23rd October 1:30PM to 4:30PM (broad audience)
Part 2: Saturday 24th October 10AM to 1PM (for PSS focal persons)
Training on Psychological First Aid: Thursday 22nd October (10AM – 4PM)
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Covid-19 response. The digital network meeting
The Forum
Purpose
The purpose of this year’s Forum is to provide European and Central Asian National Societies, working in the domain of Psychosocial Support (PSS), with a digital and safe place to exchange ideas and promote and share different ways of preparing for, responding to and recovering from the corona pandemic. This connects with the theme of 2019 “Psychosocial Support After Before Crisis (ABC)” Forum in Oslo.
Style
The Forum has been designed to be as engaging, inclusive and interactive as possible. Various methods of sharing information, including examples of Red Cross and Red Crescent practices, interventions and evaluations will be used. The Forum will be in English.
Participation
Each European and Central Asian National Society is invited to participate. The 2020 Forum will be digital and divided in two parts. The first part on Friday 23 October will be open to as many participants as possible while the second part Saturday 24 October will be open to the Psychosocial focal point of each national society. We hope this procedure will allow more interested staff and volunteers to benefit from the Forum and also allow PSS focal points in each National Society to meet and discuss next steps for the Network.
Venue
The Forum will be digital. Friday 23 October to Saturday 24 October 2020; from 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm (GMT+2) on Friday and from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm (GMT+2) on Saturday.
Programme
Title: ABC during Covid-19 response in Europe
Objectives of the Forum:
> To consider how mental health and PSS can be delivered in all phases of emergency, After, Before and during the Crisis (including the preparedness, response and recovery).
> To share good practice and lessons learned when delivering PSS activities related to Covid-19 response.
Solidarity Fund.
This year we cannot use the solidarity fund. However, since many NS already planned a contribution to the ENPS solidarity fund 2020 this contribution can be send and will be used to improve the solidarity fund for 2021. The German RC has opened a dedicated account for 2021 already now. If your NS wants to contribute to the Solidarity Fund, please transfer the money (in Euros) to the following bank account:
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft Köln
IBAN: DE58370205000005023300
BIC: BFSWDE33XXX
The intended use must be specified as followed: P250601, SF, name of participant, name or abbreviation of your NS
On-line training: ABC of Psychological First Aid during COVID-19
ENPS and IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support offer a free on-line ZOOM training from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday 22 October for those with previous experience in PFA. The training will cover dealing with anxiety and worry during corona times and participants will discuss lessons learnt as well as next steps in PFA training.
To apply for either these events (the Forum and/or training), please complete the registration form.
Would you like to join the ENPS Steering Committee?
The Steering Committee is currently looking to recruit two people to join us for four years from October 2019. The aims of the ENPS are:
1) To promote the sharing of experiences and practices in psychosocial support between the national European Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
2) To communicate the specificities of psychosocial support in the Red Cross Movement at the European level; including understanding the different contexts that National Societies (NSs) are working in and the way they intervene in the prevention, activation and follow up of crises and various psychosocial interventions, programs and trainings.
3) To enhance co-operation between the NSs, other parts of the Movement and European authorities and institutions within and between communities and associative partners such as, but not limited to the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe, as well as with research institutions.
The duties of the steering committee are:
> To facilitate the mission of the ENPS
> The administrative management of the ENPS
> To keep agendas and notes from the meetings
> To establish the programme for the annual ENPS Forum
> To follow-up co-operation
> To maintain an overview of the ENPS digital platforms and the resources within the network
> To liaise between the different experts and external partners.
The Steering Committee usually meet four times a year – once immediately before and once immediately after the Forum (at the venue of the Forum). We further meet at the beginning of the year and then early summer, at the venue for the Forum that year and also at the IFRC Regional Office of Europe, in Budapest (depending on a number of factors). Steering Committee members must be self-financing and able to commit to joining these meetings, the annual Forum and to undertaking some related activities to support the success of the ENPS over the course of the year. If you are keen to be considered to become a member of the Steering Committee, or wish to find out more, please email Sara Hedrenius, the Chair of the ENPS Steering Committee at sara.hedrenius@redcross.se
For further details and to contact the Steering Committee, please go to http://enps.redcross.at
