People fleeing the war in Ukraine are exposed to highly stressful situations so humane and supportive assistance are of upmost importance. Apart from basic needs such as food and accommodation, many of the people fleeing war also need psychosocial interventions.

As part of IOM emergency response to the war in Ukraine, from 6 to 9 September 2022 in Bratislava 27 psychologists and social workers from IOM Slovakia partner organization IPčko participated in the second round of training on how to provide IOM’s community-based approach to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to people in emergency according to IOM guidelines and its experience from the field.

Together with the first trained group of 14 professionals in August 2022, IOM has already trained 41 IPčko psychologists and social workers that form teams in all eight regions of Slovakia and already provide MHPSS services to people who fled Ukraine and as well to representatives of local communities who assist refugees.

The participants also learned how to avoid, how to recognize and how to report sexual abuse and exploitation. Photo © International Organization for Migration (IOM) 2022.

With the support of