This week, a roundtable on digital MH was held in Colombo, cohosted by the PM’s Office and eMHIC, bringing together practitioners, persons with lived experience, researchers, industry reps, policymakers and officials to kickstart a conversation about digital MH strategy in SL. 1/2

ICYMI: Here is the recording of the first in the series of Critical Dialogues on MHPSS, ‘Opening the Conversation’, which kicked off on 3rd July with a panel discussion and breakouts with ~150 practitioners: youtu.be/nxc4pTv9qV0?...

About the dialogues: app.mhpss.net/criticaldialogues

I am delighted to be moderating the first in a series of #CriticalDialogues on #MHPSS - "Opening the Conversation” with Moses Mukasa Bwesige, Rina Ghafoerkhan & Mike Wessells, on Jul 3 from 1-2.30pm UTC.
More information: app.mhpss.net/criticaldialogues
Register: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Today’s article in the Sunday Morning www.themorning.lk/articles/TKz... quotes the submission made by a group of mental health professionals to the Ministry of Justice Committee on #repealPTA and drafting new counter-terror laws. See attached the full contents of our submission. 1/2

Help Scarleteen improve their vital work!

Have you ever used Scarleteen in any way? Are you over 18? If so, please consider taking part in an anonymous survey to better understand Scarleteen's impact over the last 26+ years! tinyurl.com/scarleteensurvey

MHPSS.net is 15 years old this year! Huge thanks to everyone who has been a part of the journey. Please do take our brief survey to let us know a little bit about what the @mhpss network has meant to you! 🔗: shorturl.at/J4Dnh

Following the requests from many of you, please find the video recording here:
youtu.be/Wol6xim_ZfA?...

Thank you Mental Health Innovation Network for sharing the inspiring speech by Anne Filorizzo Pla, MHPSS lead at Save The Children at the Humanitarian Partnership Network last week www.mhinnovation.net/blogs/are-me...

Still time to sign up for our online Short Learning Programme on "Conflict Transformation in Societies in Transition" with the University of Johannesburg and Ulster University (INCORE). DM me for questions. www.uj.ac.za/university-c...

We cherish you and know you’re inherently valuable to our world. Trans folx have always been here and will always be here - making the world more beautiful everyday with your sheer existence. Your existence is brilliance and on this #TDOV, we celebrate the magic you bring to the collective! 🩵🩷🤍

@robertvanvoren.bsky.social opens the Rethinking Mental Health Care conference in Colombo, emphasising the impacts on mental health of ongoing conflict and social injustice, but advocating optimistic realism in our ability to collectively respond. rethinkingmnh.org

Just published in Social Science & Medicine - Mental Health:

Integration of #MHPSS in post-war #transitionaljustice: A case study of #SriLanka's 2016 public consultations on and implementation of #reconciliation mechanisms.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Spending three days with Ministry of Women & Child Affairs, UNICEF, Child Frontiers, SL Association of Professional Social Workers and representatives of govt depts and CSOs working on Violence Against Children, discussing professionalisation of social service workforce.

Global meeting of Country-Level MHPSS Technical Working Group Co-Chairs 2025 organised by IASC MHPSS Reference Group starts today in Addis Ababa.

Was so sad to hear today of thr loss of the activist psychiatrist Suman Fernando. His sustained work on institutionalised racism in mental health and his tireless advocacy for de-colonial approaches taught and challenged us to do better. Read Suman (again) here for inspiration: decolpsych.com

Recording released: Hybrid panel on 'Transforming power dynamics in MHPSS localisation' held in Geneva on #WMHD2024. The panellists discussed the importance of shifting power dynamics in #MHPSS and highlight strategies for successful #localisation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oODT...

The 2024 Annual meeting of the IASC #MHPSS Reference Group kicked off yesterday in Sofia, Bulgaria for three days of reviewing the work of the group and reflect and decide on priorities for the year ahead.

ICYMI 📣 Here is the recording of #Webinar 3 of the @MHPSSDesignLab lab series “This Much I Know: Practitioners Reflect on Community-Based #MHPSS” held on 30th June 2023 featuring a conversation with David Lamin, hosted by Mike Wessells.

Watch 🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUABNRJHSlY

I work on #MentalHealth & #Psychosocial Support (#MHPSS) in crisis, primarily with www.mhpss.net and also with a team based in Sri Lanka. I’m exploring Bluesky as a tool for professional exchange, as an alternative to Twitter. May be here more often in the future.