The 7th Regional PSS Forum, under the theme “Mental Health in Context” took place at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Johannesburg from the 4th to 5th of October 2023. It was organized jointly with REPSSI, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, UNICEF ESARO, University of Pretoria and Africa Population and Health Research Centre.
The forum explored the social, cultural, geographical, economic determinants of mental health taking into consideration the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the forum interrogated the correlation between mental health outcomes, mental health interventions and services, and other priority wellbeing outcomes for all African children and youth in a world that is recovering from the impact of COVID-19, impacted by war and climate change.
The PSS forum brought together youth, practitioners, researchers, academics, policy makers, international cooperating partners and the media aimed at sharing experiences and practices in Mental Health Psychosocial Support across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus across the African region and provide a platform and ensure meaningful participation by Children and young people.
Forum Overview
The Forum featured a multi-faceted program, consisting of keynote speeches, panel discussions, presentation of abstracts, interactive sessions, and skills building sessions and poster presentations and opportunities for networking with like-minded individuals.
The PSS forum sessions with a focused on:
• Social, Cultural and Geographic determinants of Mental Health
• Climate Change, Humanitarian Response and Peace Building
• Love, Care and Protection for every child
• Policy and Advocacy
Key Note Address and Presentations
REPSSI CEO, Mr. Partick Onyango officially welcomed guests to the forum and emphasized the need to prioritize mental health for Children and young people. He later welcomed the Patron of the Forum Dr. Connie Kganakga who gave a key note address and congratulated REPSSI upon the 7th Regional PSS conference. She highlighted valuable insights on access to mental health support for Children.
Several panel discussions and breakout sessions explored critical issues related SRHR, Children in the Humanitarian settings, Children’s parliament, youth advocacy, Positive school response, policy and advocacy for mental health among others.
Joy for Children- Uganda was represented by Ms. Tukwasibwe Sandra who made a presentation on “Mental Health support for survivors and those at risk of Child Abuse in the school setting”. In her presentation, she implored participants and schools to partner with community mental health organizations and agencies to develop an integrated comprehensive support program for survivors and those at of child abuse because children spend the majority of their time in school, schools play a critical role in supporting them and providing a safe, non-stigmatizing, and supportive natural environment
Mentally healthy children are more likely to go to school ready to learn, actively engage in school activities, have supportive and caring connections with teachers, adults and young people, use appropriate problem-solving skills, have nonaggressive behaviors, and add to positive school culture.
Key takeaways from The PSS Forum
v Mental health is not an individual/ country level issue. It is a public issue that requires critical attention by governments and all stakeholders.
v Schools should develop a school culture in which teachers and other student support staff are trained to recognize the early warning signs of mental health issues with children.
v Children and young people should be at the center of programming, the PSS Forum meaningfully engaged young people at the Children’s forum that happened prior to the main Forum
v The forum broadened our understanding of mental health perspectives for young people and provided valuable insights into the efforts being made to ensure meaningful participation of children and youth in advocacy spaces for mental health prioritization.
