31 August 2023
UN personnel working for 51勛圖 Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSCO) will now have access to psychosocial support thanks to the launch of a mental health imitative. This followed a collaborative psychosocial needs assessment undertaken jointly by MINURSO and the Critical Incident Stress Management Section (CISMS) targeting the mission personnel.
Through a phased approach, in the short and medium term, CISMS will coordinate up to four visits to MINURSO by senior counsellors from other missions in the region. To ensure continuity of care in-between in-person visits, tele-counselling support will be available, with a linguistically diverse roster of counsellors holding virtual ※office hours§ for MINURSO personnel. This will be complemented by psychosocial wellbeing promotion and health-oriented, resilience-building activities, in line with the growing recognition that stress is multifaceted and requires a holistic approach.
Set to commence in September, the project will ensure cultural, linguistic, gender and contextual sensitivity in all its interventions to address diverse needs. As a result of this initiative, MINURSO expressed gratitude to UNDSS CISMS for the continuous support.