The Children and Families Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Resource Collection

My Hero is You Resource Collection

The storybook 'My Hero is You' is part of a resource kit that addresses the key topics of how children can protect themselves, their families and their friends from the coronavirus and how to manage difficult emotions when confronted with new and rapidly changing realities. It was developed for children all over the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through a comprehensive consultative process with over 1,700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world. The book “My Hero is You” should be read by a parent, caregiver or teacher alongside a child or a small group of children. It is not designed for children to read this book independently without the support of a parent, caregiver, or teacher. The resource kit contains: - A storybook for children My Hero is you: How kids can Hope with COVID-19 - The supplementary guide called “Actions for Heroes”, A Guide for heart-to-heart chats with Children to accompany the reading of My Hero is You, How kids can fight COVID-19! - My Hero is You 2021: How kids can hope with COVID-19 - Audio Files - My Hero is You 2020 - A short animated film, with input and oversight from the IASC Mental health and Psychosocial Support Reference Group, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The film aims to convey messages of hope, resilience, solidarity, and empowerment to children and their caregivers around the world.

The Children's Resilience Programme

The Children’s Resilience Programme aims to: improve cooperation and peaceful interaction between children; improve the motivation to play, problem solving and positive attitude to others; enhance positive expectations to the future; enhance impulse control; and enhance capacity and awareness about self-protection and protection of peers. It uses a nonclinical psychosocial and protection methodology that focuses on children’s positive coping and resilience. It comprises 8-16 structured workshops for children aged 10-16 years old. The programme can be implemented for children in and out of school, during or after disasters, in situations of armed conflict, for children affected by HIV, or as part of preventative social work. It is designed to be implemented by the same one or two facilitators once or twice a week with the same group of children. This resource kit provides guidance for designing, implementing and evaluating the Children’s Resilience Programme and contains the following resources: 1. The booklet Understanding Children’s Wellbeing provides an introduction to psychosocial support, child protection and children’s reactions to difficult events. 2. The Programme Manager’s Handbook guides managers on how to plan, implement and evaluate Children’s Resilience Programmes. 3. The Facilitator Handbook 1: Getting Started consists of an introduction to the Children’s Resilience Programme, the first 5 workshops for the children, three additional workshops and two options to use to end a workshop track, as well as the guide for meetings with parents and caregivers. 4. The Facilitator Handbook 2: Workshop tracks consists of four workshop tracks that are concerned with Protection against abuse and exploitation, Children affected by armed conflict, Children affected by disaster and Children affected by HIV or AIDS. 5. The Children’s Resilience Programme Monitoring & Evaluation toolkit: These are guidelines for how to monitor and evaluate the Children’s Resilience Programme. They are designed for Project/Programme Managers and other involved and interested staff. To ensure appropriate delivery and quality of the Children’s Resilience Programme the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) System has two functions: 1) to monitor the progress and 2) to monitor and evaluate the outcome of the programme.

Ukraine Parenting Response: Helping children and parents cope

The Ukraine Parenting Response: Helping children and parents cope leaflet gives 14 sets of practical tips that parents and caregivers can use to support themselves and their children during crisis. The leaflet covers tips on self-care for the parent or caregiver, different ways of supporting children to cope with stress, anger and loss, as well as advice and practical tips for ensuring their safety and protection.

Caring for Child Survivors of Sexual Abuse: Guidelines for Health and Psychosocial Service Providers in Humanitarian Settings

The Caring for Child Survivors (CCS) of Sexual Abuse Guidelines is part of the CCS Resource Package developed to respond to the gap in global guidance for health and psychosocial staff providing care and treatment to child survivors of sexual abuse in humanitarian settings. It provides guidance on how to: (1) Build the capacity of health and psychosocial service providers on the foundational (or “core”) knowledge, attitudes and skills to work with child survivors of sexual abuse; (2) Adapt case management for child survivors; (3) Implement targeted psychosocial interventions; (4) Improve coordinated care across multiple sectors and service providers; and (5) Monitor the quality of service provision. The CCS Guidelines are based on global research and evidence-based field practice and bring a much-needed practical approach to helping child survivors and their families recover and heal from the often-times devastating impacts of sexual abuse.

I Support My Friends Resource Kit: Equipping Children and Adolescents

This resource kit contains a comprehensive package of tools and resources to best equip children and adolescents in safe and effective peer support, together with adult mentors. It provides guidance and tools for preparing, designing, and implementing training with children and adolescents about how to support a friend in distress building on PFA. The resource kit also includes guidance for appropriate adult supervision to ensure the physical and emotional safety of child and adolescent helpers and the friends they support. The resource kit is comprised of: 1. Theory and Implementation Guide This presents an overview of key concepts and the theoretical foundation of I Support My Friends. It describes the ethical considerations and child-safeguarding actions that need to be in place to protect children’s best interests and their physical and emotional safety. It also outlines the roles and responsibilities and expected skills and competencies of trusted adults who mentor child and adolescent peer supporters. 2. Training Manual This outlines a three-day, step-by-step training package, including case studies, stories and a list of required materials and tools to support the preparation and implementation of the training. 3. Participant’s Workbook This contains the worksheets to be used by participants in the training. 4. Manual for Training of Facilitators and Focal Points (forthcoming) This includes materials to build the capacity of the adult facilitators and Focal Point(s) who will implement the training for children and adolescents. Once field tested, the package will include a training manual, agenda, PowerPoint slides and other guiding materials.

Ukraine Key Care Recommendations (Responding to children's care in the context of the Ukraine Crisis)

"The Ukraine Key Care Recommendations (Responding to children's care in the context of the Ukraine Crisis) guidance document provides a framework to support child protection practitioners and policymakers working both inside Ukraine and in host countries to implement responses related to children’s care in the context of Ukraine in line with international standards and good practice on children’s care and the provision of alternative care. It includes key recommendations to inform strategic priorities, programme design, and priority interventions and advocacy efforts with policymakers, donors and other key stakeholders. The recommendations concern children without parental or family care, at risk of separation, in alternative care or who have recently left alternative care, including those who have been evacuated from residential care facilities either inside Ukraine or to host countries. Each section considers children in both refugee and internally displaced contexts, as well as children with existing intersecting vulnerabilities, such as children with disabilities and children from ethnic minorities, including Roma or third country nationals. "

The Toolkit for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings

The Toolkit for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings provides a set of materials to assist managers and facilitators/animators in setting up and implementing quality Child Friendly Spaces (CFS). These resources have at their core the protection of children from harm; the promotion of psychosocial well-being; and the engagement of community and caregiver capacities. The CFS Toolkit contains: 1. Operational Guidance for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings: It summarises key approaches in the protection of children and in the promotion of their psychosocial well-being. It is directed to CFS managers and facilitators/animators. It has four chapters, addressing the following aspects of setting up and implementing a quality CFS: introduction to CFS, setting up a CFS, information for CFS facilitators/animators and working with caregivers and community members. 2. The Activity Catalogue for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings: It provides materials for facilitators and animators responsible for implementing activities in a CFS. It features a wide range of easy-to-use resources, including sessions to open, close and review a programme of activities. It has a set of seven themed workshops which relate to key aspects of children’s psycho-social well-being. These resources provide structured activities that can be used in a sequence over a period of time, but are flexible too so that they can be used as standalone sessions if CFS modalities vary and/or attendance fluctuates. Activities are generally intended for children from 6 up to 18 years, with some additional resources provided in the annexes for activities targeted to younger children, older children and adolescents. 3. Training for Implementers of Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings: This is a three-day training for CFS managers and coordinators that addresses the challenges of setting up and implementing quality CFS in diverse circumstances. Using various case scenarios, participants in the training are exposed to realistic demands and equipped to find practical solutions to challenges faced in the field. The training draws on resources from the Operational Guidance for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings and the Activity Catalogue for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings. 4. Training for Facilitators of Activities for Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings: This training manual complements the Training for Implementers of Child Friendly Spaces in Humanitarian Settings. It provides practical training for facilitators on the Activity Catalogue to support the effective implementation of the structured activities for children in different contexts. Ideally, this should follow on directly from the three-day implementer training.

P.O.W.E.R. Play Opportunities for Wellness and Education Resource

Play Opportunities for Wellness and Education Resource (P.O.W.E.R.) is a collection of 100 gender-responsive play-based learning activities created to support parents, teachers, coaches, social workers and others to promote children's learning and development. All learning activities are play-based and are for children 6 years of age and up. They can be used by any adult who works directly with children including peer or youth leaders and cover the following topics: health and psychosocial wellbeing, cognitive development, social development, emotional development, gender and child protection. Each activity includes the appropriate age, the time, the number of players and the materials needed. In addition, this resource also includes guidance for facilitators on the following topics: keeping children safe, child agency, psychosocial wellbeing plat, gender responsive play and children with disabilities and play.

Conflict Management and Peace Building in Everyday Life: A resource kit for children and youth

The Conflict Management and Peacebuilding in Everyday Life resource kit contains a series of tools that have been collected, adapted and used with and by children and youth in diverse socio-cultural and political contexts. The tools may be used with and by children and youth to analyse conflict, to plan, implement and assess conflict management and peace building activities. They can also be used to develop and strengthen strategic plans for peace building in different settings, such as family and school, and at community, district and national levels. This kit will be useful for education programme managers, education advisors, and teachers.

Child Protection Sessions for Parents and Caregivers

The Child Protection Sessions for Parents and Caregivers manual is a guide for facilitating child protection sessions for parents and caregivers. These sessions are designed to help parents to better care for their children and to protect them from all forms of violence. These sessions must be conducted by a trained facilitator who can facilitate a discussion on the issues addressed in this manual with parents and caregivers from the community. Each session is divided into section plans that provide the facilitator with guidance on how to conduct the session, plus annexes for each major topic, including tips for facilitators. The annexes contain background information for the facilitator as well as messages for parents that can be given as handouts. Each discussion should ideally be comprised of 10-20 participants.

Guidelines for Consulting with Children and Young People with Disabilities

The Guidelines for Consulting with Children and Young People with Disabilities provides guidance and practical suggestions for consulting with children and young people with disabilities in a variety of situations. It aims to equip individuals working on child rights with the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate with children with a variety of disabilities. The guidelines present tips and suggestions for the entire consultation process including: planning for the consultation, general considerations for consulting with children with disabilities, specific tips for communicating with children with different types of impairments, and some case study examples.

Connect with Respect: Preventing Gender-Based Violence in Schools

The Connect with Respect Preventing Gender-based Violence in Schools tool has been created to help teachers, school principals and the broader education system to deliver education programmes in early secondary school by providing positive role models, empowering children and youth to have healthy and respectful relationships, and delivering a violence prevention programme within their curriculum in Asia and the Pacific. It is designed for students between 11 and 14 years of age, but can be adapted for use with older students. It provides age-appropriate learning activities on important themes and concepts relating to the prevention of gender-based violence and promotion of respectful relationships. The learning activities are informed by research into effective teaching about gender, violence prevention, and life-skills development and are designed for use in the formal school system; however, they can be modified for use in non-formal education settings, including through community learning or literacy programmes.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups: Programme Resource Package

The MHPSS in CAAFAG Programmes Resource Package (field-test version) is an inter-agency package of resources that aims to support the integration of MHPSS into programmes for the prevention, release, and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG). It offers evidence-based guidance on how to support the mental health and well-being of children, families, and communities in emergency, humanitarian, and post-conflict settings through CAAFAG programming. The MHPSS in CAAFAG Programmes Resource Package includes a suite of four resources: • Operational Guidance for MHPSS in CAAFAG Programmes: The operational guidance includes an operational framework to guide the design and implementation of MHPSS services in CAAFAG programmes. The operational guidance is a complement to the CAAFAG Programme Development Toolkit Guide developed by the CAAFAG Task Force and aligns with the UNICEF Global Multisectoral Operational Framework for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support of Children, Adolescents and Caregivers Across Settings (Demonstration Version) with linkages to the MHPSS Minimum Services Package. The operational guidance consists of two sections: 1) Understanding Children’s MHPSS Assets and Needs and 2) Operational Framework for MHPSS for CAAFAG. • An Evidence Review of MHPSS programming relevant to CAAFAG: The evidence review defines key terms, offers an elaboration on key concepts and considerations for MHPSS among CAAFAG; describes approaches to delivering MHPSS, considers risk and protective factors, offer considerations around integrating MHPSS throughout the CAAFAG programming, describes MHPSS tools for use with CAAFAG programmes, and offers a discussion of evidence gaps and recommended areas for further research. • Contextualization Guidance for MHPSS delivery in CAAFAG programming: The contextualization guidance defines the key aspects of contextualisation for CAAFAG MHPSS programmes and highlights key steps for contextualising the MHPSS for CAAFAG Operational Framework. The guidance also offers information, tools, and illustrative case studies to inform the adaptation of components of the MHPSS for CAAFAG Operational Framework to cultures, contexts, and situations. • Advocacy and Dissemination Package on MHPSS delivery in CAAFAG programming to drive further development and research.

PFA for Children II: Dealing with Traumatic Responses in Children.

The PFA for Children II: Dealing with Traumatic Responses in Children training manual provides guidance for staff working with children who are severely affected psychologically by acute crisis. It is not a clinical tool and does not qualify staff to engage in clinical interventions. It is a supplementary training to Save the Children’s Psychological First Aid Training for Child Practitioners (2013), which lays the foundation for providing PFA. In some situations, additional skills to providing comfort and stabilization are needed. PFA II can be used to train such additional skills. It provides advice to staff dealing directly with children who are showing concerning behaviours (beyond what is perceived as common reactions to traumatic events). The training is designed for people who are not trained in mental health, and is based on field experience, research and the latest theories on child trauma, resilience and recovery.

Baby Friendly Spaces Holistic Approach for Pregnant, Lactating Women and their very young children in Emergency

The Baby Friendly Spaces (BFS) is a model of intervention for a holistic psychosocial program that aims at providing comprehensive support to children and their caregivers who are facing emergency situations. This document aims to explain WHY and HOW to implement Baby Friendly Spaces and includes seven chapters: • The first chapter is a more theoretical section presenting the six care practices. It includes basic information on each care practice, on the way appropriate childcare practices are reinforced/maintained in the BFS setting. • The second chapter describes the different steps for the operational implementation of Baby Friendly Spaces • The third chapter focuses on the various activities that can be developed in BFS, with the different implementation steps • The fourth chapter is dedicated to non-breastfed infants. The chapter describes which kind of intervention should be implemented for these children and their caregivers • The fifth chapter is a detailed and technical guidance for breastfeeding and child feeding • The sixth chapter is focused on Infant and Young Child Feeding related to HIV • The last chapter gives information on how to manage unsolicited and unmonitored distribution of Breast Milk Substitute Throughout the manual, reflections will be presented on how to adapt Baby Friendly Spaces to a wide variety of local situations and cultural context specificities.

Psychological First Aid Training Manual for Child Practitioners

This Psychological First Aid Training Manual for Child Practitioners is for training people working with children on how to provide Psychological First Aid (PFA). The training aims to build skills for providing physical and emotional comfort by modelling calmness and teaches participants active listening that can be used to encourage children in distress to voice their concerns and needs. It provides information on connecting children in distress to practical assistance through referral networks and information on positive coping strategies. The training also includes a one day training for humanitarian workers on stress management.

Field Handbook on Unaccompanied and Separated Children

This handbook provides operational guidance for child protection staff and other actors working on prevention and response to family separation in emergencies. It sets out to ensure that responses meet agreed inter-agency standards and are appropriate to the particular situation of individual unaccompanied and separated children, emphasizing the importance of working with affected communities, including children themselves. It accompanies the Toolkit (see Linked Resources section). The handbook is divided into a summary guidance section, which collates all the essential actions and tools covered in the handbook and acts as a quick reference guide for practitioners. Detailed guidance on each topic can be found within corresponding chapters in sections one and Two. Section one provides an overview of the legal framework and organizational mandates related to unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), characterizes family separation in emergencies, describes the causes of separation, outlines how to prepare for and prevent separation in emergencies, and how to undertake coordination and assessment. It also covers the basics of UASC programming, case management and information management. Section two provides detailed guidance on immediate needs in emergencies and detailed information on identification, documentation, alternative care, family tracing, verification, reunification, reintegration and cross-sector coordination.

Gender-Based Violence Against Children and Youth with Disabilities: A Toolkit for Child Protection Actors

The Gender-based Violence Against Children and Youth with Disabilities: A toolkit for Child Protection Actors was designed to invite reflection on and strengthening capacity of staff working with disability inclusion; identify gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response needs of children and youth with disabilities; and foster their participation in both planning and implementation of activities to prevent and reduce the risks of violence. It can be useful to a wide range of actors engaged in child protection, GBV prevention and response, and for youth engagement programs in both development and humanitarian contexts.

Caring for your Child in Crisis Situation

The Caring for your Child in Crisis Situation booklet aims to help parents in crisis situations who are concerned about their children’s wellbeing, to support themselves and their children understand and cope with reactions, manage challenges they may be facing, and how to stay connected as a family. Examples of specific topics are safety, dealing with bereavement, providing warmth and support, giving praise, spending time together and talking, encouraging good behaviour, and dealing with fighting and aggression.

Singing to the Lions: A Facilitator’s Guide to Overcoming Fear and Violence in Our Lives

Singing to the Lions’ is a training manual based on proven psycho-therapeutic interventions that help children and youth overcome fear and violence in their lives. It targets children ages 11+; however adaptations are easily made for younger and older groups, including adults. It is intended for survivors of armed conflict, refugees, adolescents and young people who experienced physical or sexual abuse and other trauma. Through its use of games, drawing, drama and stories, ‘Singing to the Lions’ can be implemented for groups of +/- 20 people in a 3-day workshop or divided into six separate modular sessions of three hours each.

Inter Agency Guidelines for Case Management and Child Protection

"The Inter-agency Guidelines for Case Management and Child Protection have been developed at an inter-agency level through the Child Protection Working Group to complement the agreed standard 15 on Case Management in the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action. They aim to provide a common understanding and step-by-step guidance on how to do case management in emergencies. The primary focus of these guidelines is for use by agencies and practitioners in humanitarian settings. However, these guidelines can also be a useful resource for governments and agencies working in more stable or development situations. Likewise, these guidelines can be helpful additional guidance in refugee situations, but practices would need to take into account broader refugee case management including the specific Best Interest Procedure. The associated Child Protection Case Management Training Manual for Caseworkers, Supervisors and Managers is based upon and provides guidance for conducting training on these Guidelines.Included in the zip file is the facilitator’s guide/manual, PowerPoints, and Handouts. "

Communicating with Children About Death and Helping Children Cope with Grief

The 'Communicating with children about death and helping children cope with grief' resource provides guidance for adults on communicating with children about death and helping them cope with grief. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it highlights how children of different ages experience loss and grief, how to talk to them about it and how to help them cope with loss during the pandemic and humanitarian emergencies.

Traditional Games for Child Protection

The Traditional Games for Child Protection manual collates 20 traditional games which are organized by age group, and teach life skills to children to foster resilience and self-protection. It uses the Movement, Games and Sports (MGS) methodology which champions 'learning by doing' and puts child participation at the heart of the learning process. The manual explains the psychosocial and protection related benefits of games for children, highlights the lessons from each game, and provides follow up questions for the children. It was developed for animators, teachers and protection workers.

What To Do If You Come Across Children Who are Separated or Reported Missing

This is a one-page resource on what to do if you come across children who are separated or reported missing. It provides clear steps to be taken if a child is separated from their usual caregivers, including their parents or other family member, or if a child is reported missing. This includes children who are presumed to be orphans. It is developed by the Child Protection Global Protection Cluster.

Toolkit on Unaccompanied and Separated Children

The toolkit was produced by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) to provide technical guidance to support the implementation of the core principles for working with these children. It highlights key international instruments and guidelines relating to unaccompanied and separated children, including a series of tools and sample documents for use in programming. It accompanies the Field Handbook (see Linked Resources section).

Supporting and Responding to Forcibly Displaced Children: Training Module for Child Helpline Counsellors

The Supporting and Responding to Forcibly Displaced Children Training Module for Child Helpline Counsellors aims to enhance child helpline counsellors’ knowledge and support for children on the move, specifically those who have been forcibly displaced. By taking this module, child helpline counsellors will be able to follow a child’s journey from pre-flight, during flight and after flight while learning about the key concepts and issues associated with each phase of the flight. Case studies and self-reflection exercises are also found throughout the training module along with a final assessment to help child helpline counsellors evaluate their knowledge and contemplate on the key concepts, case stories and programmes they previously studied.

Guidance Note for Teacher Wellbeing in Emergency Settings

The Guidance Note for Teacher Wellbeing in Emergency Settings provides information on how to support teacher wellbeing in the five domains of INEE’s (2010) Minimum Standards. It explains how to: promote mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for teachers; create more enabling work environments for teachers; and enhance teacher voice, agency, and leadership in crises. ​The guidance note offers resources and tools and examples of these standards in action. The guidance note is for people who work in all humanitarian and development sectors that impact the lives of teachers both at work and out of work in their homes and communities. Elevating the importance of teacher wellbeing emphasizes the critical role it plays in strengthening humanitarian-development coherence and improving the resiliency of education systems.

Working with Children and Their Environment: Manual of Psychosocial Skills

The 'Working with children and their environment: Manual of psychosocial skills' aims at improving the overall wellbeing of children through strengthening the psychosocial skills of the adults in charge, all the while passing on effective methods and tools (games and creative activities) for working with children. Depending on the need, it is targeted at animators, teachers, social workers, educators, professional delegates, heads of mission, project coordinators or school directors, as well as ministries of education and social affairs. The manual contains 18 modules divided into two parts according to four fields of skills. Part 1 for a ‘psychosocial approach’ deals with managing oneself, one's relationships with others, and in groups and is directed at people who want to improve their personal and social skills. Part 2 for ‘psychosocial intervention’ deals with managing activities and games and is aimed more specifically at those in charge of activities with groups of children and who want to improve their methodological and technical skills. To respond to the needs of these different target groups, it is possible to organize long training courses (two weeks or more) or training ‘à la carte’ (short one, or two-day workshops). In any case, for people in direct contact with children, setting up individual coaching in the field is essential to help with the acquisition and practice of the new concepts.

Stress Busters

Stress Busters is an activity resource developed to address stressful situations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a collection of six simple drama based relaxation exercises that an adult can engage in with a child or a group of children to help them relax and release muscle tension from possible exposure to stress.

Parenting on the Move: Program for empowerment and promoting the development of competencies of parents of children up to 12 years of age, in situations of migrations and refugeehood Package

The Parenting on the Move (PoM) programme package has been developed to support families to provide the necessary conditions for well-being, resilience, and education of children up to 12 years of age, in situations of migration/refugeehood. The programme has three components: parent workshops, family workshops (led by trained moderators), and materials for activities that parents and children can engage in, in a family setting. It can be implemented by moderators (activists, experts, students) trained for its implementation. The moderators need to have the knowledge of the programme’s thematic fields, experience in facilitating group work with adults and group work with adults and children together, and also need to have empathy and developed communication skills. As a programme package, PoM provides a comprehensive framework for implementation through a) training of the facilitators of the workshops; b) mentoring through the implementation; c) monitoring and evaluation. The programme package consists of: • Moderator’s handbook with workshop program • Material for the families: “POM NOTES TO GO” and “POM GAMES TO GO”, • Handbook for trainers and mentors.

Training in Psychological First Aid Module 3: PFA for Children

The Psychological First Aid Module 3: PFA for Children is for training people working with children on how to provide Psychological First Aid (PFA). The training has been developed for staff and volunteers working with psychosocial support for children and those providing direct care and support to children and their caregivers in distress, such as nurses, teachers, social workers, health volunteers, ambulance workers or other first responders. The activities take between eight to nine hours and can be run in one long day or over one-and-a-half days. This manual is part of the PFA kit developed by IFRC in 2018.

INEE Background Paper on Psychosocial Support and Social and Emotional Learning for Children and Youth in Emergency Settings

The INEE Background Paper on Psychosocial Support and Social and Emotional Learning clarifies relevant terminologies and approaches relating to psychosocial well-being and social and emotional learning (SEL) in education in crisis-affected contexts, and explores how psychosocial support (PSS) and social and emotional learning relate to one another. The target audiences for this paper are education practitioners, academics, and policy-makers working in education in emergencies and protracted crises and the various sections highlight references to specific entry points for each. The paper includes various considerations for training, supervision, and well-being, as well as guidance on adopting a gender perspective, while also providing an overview of the impact of conflict and natural disasters on children’s well-being and the related risk factors and impact of stress on brain development.

Common Signs of Psychosocial Distress in Children

The Common Signs of Psychosocial Distress in Children provides information on common ways children react when they experience psychosocial distress. Children`s reaction vary depending on multiple factors, including their ages. The information sheet gives examples of common reactions for different age groups, and provides guidance on simple things that caregviers can do to create a supportive environment for their children and reduce negative impact of the crisis situation. It is important to recognise signs of distress and this resource is helpful for anyone who interacts, lives with or works with children.

Coping with Changes: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play

Coping with Changes: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play is an online course on how to provide playful and engaging social emotional learning (SEL) support to children. It was developed due to the disruption in children's lives due to COVID-19 but can be used in any settings where children experience high levels of stress. Course participants explore the practical and emotional challenges children face and explore the concept of 'learning through play' and stress management strategies that can help. The course also considers the potential long term effects of crises on a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. This is an interactive course and at every step of the course, learners can meet other learners, share their ideas and join in active discussions in the comments. This course is primarily designed for primary caregivers and teachers of young people. The course is also revelant for culture and social workers, artists, and humanitarian workers. Examples of topics in the course are: - Foundations of Learning through Play  - Importance of MHPSS / SEL in Crisis  - Adult Wellbeing   - Age sensitive SEL knowledge and activities - Coping with Changes and Transitions

Helping Children Cope with Grief During a War

Helping Children Cope with Grief During a War is an interactive web-based leaflet, developed to help people understand how children of different ages experience loss and grief; how to talk to them about it, and how to help them cope with the death of a loved one during war and displacement. It is presented as a leaflet that answers many questions a caregiver may have, such as Do children grieve?, Should I tell my children if someone they love has died?, What is the best way to tell them?

Helping Adolescents Thrive Toolkit

The Helping Adolescents Thrive toolkit, developed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, provides programmatic guidance, based on evidence-based guidelines, for people working in the health, social services and education sectors on how to implement mental health promotive and preventive interventions that are appropriate to local needs and the contexts where adolescents live. The toolkit covers the legal foundations required for such programmes to succeed, the features of environments that are conducive to the well-being of adolescents, what support should be provided to parents and other caregivers, and psychosocial interventions that work.

Girl Safety Toolkit: A Resource for Practitioners

The Girl Safety Toolkit: A Resource for Practitioners is aimed to support organizations in creating and expanding safe opportunities for girls. It provides an array of tools for the programme designer on how to assess a situation, design the programme, implement the programme, and then monitor and evaluate. Each section provides tools, information, games, and checklists to ensure that those working to promote girl safety have a strong reserve to aid them in the field.

Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Frontliner Getting Started Learning Package

The CPHA (Child Protection in Humanitarian Action) Frontliners' Getting Started Learning Package is a resource package that has been developed to rapidly onboard new team members in the wake of a new emergency or crisis and aims to ensure that frontline workers are introduced to the minimum competencies to work in a safe, effective, accountable, and professional way with children, families, and communities. It includes a facilitator's guide, a participant handbook and a self-assessment tool and has been designed to be delivered in modules through both face-to-face and remote facilitation. In face-to-face settings, the content can be covered in three consecutive days or the modules can be split over more weeks depending on availability. In remotely facilitated settings, it is recommend to deliver the course in a series of half-day sessions. This learning package has been developed primarily for team managers/coordinators to be able to facilitate a learning process with their frontline teams. External facilitators might also deliver this training if they are adequately familiar with the organisation’s systems and programmes. It is envisioned for the learning package to go through a contextualisation process prior to its use.

Supporting Adolescents and their Families in Emergencies

Supporting Adolescents and their Families in Emergencies (SAFE) is a protection and psychosocial support program model to strengthen the capacity of front-line actors so that adolescent girls and boys (ages 10-19) are safer, more supported, and equipped with positive coping strategies in acute emergencies. SAFE aims to make adolescent girls and boys more visible and heard in the first phase of an emergency response. The SAFE Resource Package is publicly available and includes practical field-friendly implementation guidance, detailed facilitator training manuals and three tailored curricula – for adolescent girls, for adolescent boys, and for caregivers.

Safe Healing and Learning Spaces Toolkit

The SHLS Toolkit provides frontline humanitarian staff with practical implementation guidance, adaptable sample tools, comprehensive training materials, and scripted instructional content needed to initiate an SHLS in an emergency setting. Resources are provided for a 9-month program, and applicable in both rural and urban areas, based on locally-defined needs and priorities. The content is holistic, including tools for social-emotional learning, reading and math, and parenting support. Materials are open source, user-friendly and designed for managers and facilitators in the form of structured yet adaptable training and learning content. The tools are evidence-based and practitioner-tested, developed bythe IRC’s in-house technical experts, field tested with displaced communitiesand frontline staff in Nigeria, Chad and Iraq, and refined through feedbackfrom academic and peer reviewers.

Caring for Children through Conflict and Displacement

The Caring for Children through Conflict and Displacement booklet gives tips to caregivers who have lived through war and conflict and forced to leave their homes. The booklet aims to help caregivers by giving some ideas on how they can help themself feel better, and how they can help their children.

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Minimum Services Package

The MHPSS MSP is a resource for humanitarian actors who plan, support, coordinate, implement and evaluate activities within and across sectors. These include government actors, MHPSS Technical Working Groups (TWGs), national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society and other advocacy groups, Red Cross and Red Crescent networks, UN agencies, coordinators of sectors/clusters/AoRs and donors. The MHPSS MSP informs the development and implementation of humanitarian response planning processes and documents including Humanitarian Needs Overviews, Humanitarian Response Plans, Refugee Response Plans, cluster strategy development and specific donor funding calls and mechanisms. The MSP builds on existing MHPSS standards and tools to create a single, easy-to-follow intersectoral package. It encompasses a wide range of activities that can be implemented by staff and volunteers with diverse backgrounds, qualifications and levels of experience. While standards, guidelines and tools for MHPSS have been developed, there is a recognized need for an intersectoral costed package to operationalize these guidelines and standards.

Tips for Working with Children: A Pocket Guide for Border Patrol Agents

The Pocket Guide for Border Patrol Agents provides tips for taking a child-sensitive approach which allows agents to carry out their work and communicate in a way that support children’s safety and well-being, while minimizing harm. It can also be used by others than border patrol agents, who meet children at the border or on the move.

How to Talk to Children About War

The How to Talk to Children About War set is a small pack of illustrated cards for parents and caregivers developed by Save the Children. It includes tips on how to support children directly affected by conflict, or who have friends in conflict settings, or who may be struggling to find explanations after watching disturbing images on television or on social media. It can also be used by volunteers providing support to conflict-affected families and children, and by staff and volunteers manning hotlines and helplines who may be receiving calls for advice and assistance from anxious adults and children.

The Kip Crew Manages Their Worries – Activity Booklet

The Kip Crew Manages Their Worries is a set of cartoons and little activities about the Kip Crew, that can be read and done with children aged 4-9 years to help them think about and manage feelings of worry or fright. Older children can read and work through the resource by themselves, and younger children with an adult. The activities invite them to learn how to talk about these feelings as well as come up with ways to make themselves and others feel better. It is developed by the Soujellaan Lapsia Protect Children & Fun Academy in Finland.

Engaged and Heard! Guidelines on Adolescent Participation and Civic Engagement

The ENGAGED AND HEARD! Guidelines on Adolescent Participation and Civic Engagement was developed to enhance systematic programming and advocacy to realize adolescents’ right to be heard in matters affecting them. The guidelines provide information on the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how-to’ of participation and civic engagement, with a specific focus on adolescents. The main sections include guidance on: Conceptual understanding, Main strategies and key interventions , Organizational commitment and processes, and Monitoring and evaluation. The appendices provide sector-specific guidelines for adolescent participation in: Health, WASH, Nutrition and HIV; Education; Child protection, care and justice; Disaster risk reduction, climate change and environmental protection; and Peacebuilding and humanitarian response.

Fun, Safe, Inclusive: A Half-Day Training Module on Facilitating Skills

The Fun, Safe, Inclusive manual is a half-day training module on facilitation skills that can be used across sectors, for programmes at all levels, to provide a short training on facilitating programmes for children. It can be used as a stand-alone training tool or as part of a comprehensive training on psychosocial and resilience-promoting activities for children, adults and families. The module focuses on facilitation skills promoting fun, safety and inclusion. It draws on new insights about the importance of play from neuroscience, giving ideas for activities designed to alleviate the long-term impact of toxic stress on children’s brains and development.

Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Settings

The Including Children with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action pack consists of six guidance booklets that aim to strengthen the inclusion of children and women with disabilities, and their families, in emergency preparedness, response and early recovery, and recovery and reconstruction. This series of booklets provides insight into the situation of children with disabilities in humanitarian contexts, highlights the ways in which they are excluded from humanitarian action, and offers practical actions and tips to better include children and adolescents with disabilities in all stages of humanitarian action. The booklets were created in response to UNICEF colleagues in the field expressing a need for a practical resource to guide their work. The information and recommendations are based on evidence and good practices gathered from literature and field staff experiences. The six booklets on how to include children and adolescents with disabilities in humanitarian programmes focus on: 1) general guidance; 2) child protection; 3) education; 4) health and HIV/AIDS; 5) nutrition; 6) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Child Safe Programming and Safeguarding in Interim Centres

The Child Safe Programming and Safeguarding in Interim Centres outlines some of the potential safeguarding risks children face in Interim Care Centres. The guidance note identifies three main ways that children can be harmed: by people, by programmes and processes, and by the physical environment. The guidance note provides information on safeguarding from sexual exploitation abuse and harassment (SEAH), and other risks to children's well-being including neglect, emotional abuse and unsafe environments. There are also suggestions for how these risks can be mitigated to ensure that children are as safe as possible.

Global Multi Sectoral Operational Framework for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support of Children, Adolescents and Caregivers Across Settings [Field Demonstration version]

UNICEF’s Global Multi Sectoral Operational Framework for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support of Children, Adolescents and Caregivers Across Settings [Field Demonstration version] aims to guide MHPSS programme development and integration of MHPSS into all sectors that influence children, adolescents, families and caregivers mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. The framework can be used in development contexts, humanitarian contexts and within the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. There is emphasis on engaging actors in the health, social welfare and child protection and education sectors at all levels of society to design, implement and evaluate MHPSS strategies that are locally relevant, comprehensive and sustainable. The framework can be used by all persons involved in assessing needs; designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes for children, adolescents and caregivers; and those involved in advocating for support children, adolescents and caregivers.

Free Reader Application for Ukrainian-speaking Children

The Free Reader Application for Ukrainian-speaking Children free app features a diverse library of books for Ukrainian children, anywhere. It contains 75 books in Ukrainian (with more to come) that have been curated to be culturally relevant, age appropriate and nicely illustrated for the target audience. Most of this book collection is tailored to support social and emotional learning of children aged 4-10 (based on the CASEL framework) and thereby contribute to help them manage distress and trauma and improve their overall educational readiness and success, civic engagement and well-being.

General Support Group Curriculum

The General Support Group Curriculum. developed by the Global Child Protection Area of Responsibility, is a guidance and orientation package focusing on support group interventions for children, adolescents, and families who require basic emotional and practical support to address psychosocial challenges that disrupt their sense of safety, security, and hope. Support groups can help group members to process difficult memories and grieve multiple losses as needed for full psychosocial recovery and stabilization. There is emphasis on encouraging mutual support among group members and linking with wider community supports. This guidance can be used as a basis for training and orienting resource persons who will work with children in small groups. The approach used integrates the IASC pyramid layer three of interventions into child protection activities.

Teacher's Guide to Psychosocial Support Activities for Students for the First Weeks of Students Return to Schools Following Long Breaks

The Teacher's Guide to Psychosocial Support Activities for Students has been designed for the first weeks of return to face-to-face education to support teachers’ efforts in promoting the psychosocial well-being of students as it provides interactive inclusive activities for children aged 6 - 16. The activities contribute to building positive relationships and attitudes, promoting students’ self-esteem, encouraging them to express their feelings, communicate their emotions and deepen their relationship with the school. Furthermore, these activities reduce the impact of potential emotional stress and behavioural problems and prompt students to seek help when needed in a safe school environment. The guide consists of two parts: the first part tackles the most important mental and social health concepts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have an impact on students' academic achievement, life skills, and communication with peers and society. These concepts include: psychosocial well-being, psychosocial support, positive discipline, referral, peer support, and inclusive education. The second part of the guide includes inclusive interactive activities, and some strategies that attempt at alleviating the effects of the psychological pressures that students were exposed to during the period of closure. The guide was developed specifically for teachers in Jordan, but can be used in all countries.

Working with Other Sectors to Enhance Outcomes of MHPSS of Child Protection: An Introductory Guide for Child Protection Practitioners (Field Test Version 1.0)

The Working with Other Sectors to Enhance Outcomes of MHPSS of Child Protection guide is intended to help child protection practitioners to advocate for the best interests of the child in all arenas and seek out ways in which all sectors can contribute to the protection and well-being of children. The guide is a helpful tool for facilitating productive conversations with colleagues from different sectors and may also be useful for case managers faced with the challenge of navigating between sectors to find the best solution for individual children and families. The guide links child protection to Camp Coordination and Camp Management, Education in Emergencies, Gender-based violence, Health, Mine Action, Nutrition and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

How to Support Your Child During Conflict and Crisis Situations: Advice for Navigating the Most Difficult Times

The How to Support Your Child During Conflict and Crisis Situations: Advice for Navigating the Most Difficult Times is an article that aims to help caregivers with advice and recommendations on how to help both themselves and their children cope during a conflict and crisis situation, and how to stay connected as a family. It includes information on ways to overcome stress in adversity.

Manual on Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in Emergencies and Displacement

The Listen and Learn Participatory Assessment with Children and Adolescent tool presents an approach to participatory assessments for children and adolescents. It provides guidance on how to run participatory assessments ethically and inclusively. After tips on preparation, the tool describes a range of participatory workshop methods that can be used by humantarian actors, culminating in a sample workshop module. The tool encourages monitoring and evaluation teams to use varied activities, instead of only focus group discussions. The annex contains a number of practical tools to assist in planning and conducting participatory assessments. There is specific guidance on how to hold structured dialogues with refugee men and women, girls and boys of all ages and backgrounds about their particular protection needs and risks. The tool can be used to ensure that children are at the centre of decision-making concerning their protection and well-being.

Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Settings

The Guidelines for Community Based MHPSS in Humanitarian Settings: Three-tiered support for children and families aim to protect and promote children’s wellbeing and full participation within the family and community systems that surround and support them. The guidelines offer practical information and tools to implement a range of MHPSS interventions to rapidly address the protection and psychosocial support needs of children and families, in parallel with tailored mental health interventions for those most in need. They are intended for UNICEF staff, partners and other agencies in humanitarian settings to help effectively embed MHPSS programmes for child and family wellbeing in communities. They are especially relevant for partners working in child protection, health and nutrition, education, camp management and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to better understand the MHPSS needs of people facing or recovering from adversity. A deeper understanding of the guidelines in the field will help to improve coordination across sectors, facilitate referrals to ensure that MHPSS needs are met, and enhance coordinated implementation of effective and culturally sound humanitarian interventions that reduce the potential for further harm. The compendium of resources supplements the global guidance through providing a set of resources that can be used in different field settings.

Comfort, Listen, Empower:Psycholgical FIrst Aid for Children During a Crisis

The Comfort, Listen, Empower:Psycholgical FIrst Aid for Children During a Crisis resource set is developed by Save the Children Sweden's Centre for Support and Treatment. It includes includes a guide on Psychologocal First Aid and a leaflet to give parents and one to give to children. It focuses on how adults can support children after critical incidents and during emergencies affecting society as a whole, both in the initial emergency phase and some time after. It refers to difficult events that affect many children – for example terrorist attacks, forest fires, collapse of buildings, or a shooting where many are injured or otherwise affected. It has guidance on what to do first, how to promote a feeling of security, a feeling of calm, a sense of belonging, a feeling of self-confidence, trust in society and promote a sense of hope.

UNICEF Innovations: Adolescent Kit

Adolescent Kit for Expression and Innovation is a package of guidance, tools and supplies to support country programmes to reach and engage adolescents ages 10-18 affected by conflict and other crises. The Kit aims to bring about positive change in adolescents’ lives through arts and innovation. The activities offer adolescents the chance to express themselves, experiment, solve real problems, and explore new ideas. In the process, adolescent girls and boys develop key competencies and new skills that help them to cope with stressful circumstances, build healthy relationships, and engage positively with their communities. The Kit promotes the Adolescent Circles approach, which involves bringing groups of girls and boys ages 10-18 together in a safe space on a regular basis to have fun, cope with difficult experiences, learn, and work together. It draws from good programmatic approaches in psychosocial support, life skills education, child protection, social cohesion and peacebuilding. The Kit can be used by anyone involved in managing programmes or working directly with adolescents in humanitarian and vulnerable development contexts, including staff across different sectors, teachers, Child Friendly Space facilitators, youth facilitators and community volunteers. All or part of the Kit can be integrated into programmes for adolescents in areas such as child protection, education and youth development.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Technical Note

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Technical Note synthesizes information on UNICEF’s approach to MHPSS, and references existing MHPSS operational guidance and standards that are detailed across sectors. It has been developed for UNICEF staff and explains : • WHAT Mental Health and MHPSS is, • WHY MHPSS needs to be included and delivered across sectors, and • HOW to deliver effective, multi-sectoral MHPSS in both development and humanitarian contexts. It gives an overview of guidance, evidence-based interventions, standards, resources, and examples of successful MHPSS programs. It also provides practical suggestions to further strengthen UNICEF’s approach to inclusion for people of all ages, genders, abilities, ethnicities and living situations. Children and adolescents are particularly prioritized, and all sectors are encouraged to incorporate MHPSS approaches to support children and family’s mental health and well-being.

Psychosocial Support Activity Pack: A Teacher’s Guide (All Levels)

The Psychosocial Support Activity Pack for Teachers (Kinder, Grades 1-3, and Senior High School) provides guidance for teachers to conduct psychosocial support activities for learners. This packet is designed to bridge healthy socio-emotional well-being (achieved through offering psychosocial support) to academic performance. In this guide, you will find a handful of play and arts-based psychosocial support (PSS) activities that have been thoughtfully designed to help students confidently say, I AM, I HAVE, and I CAN even as we consistently have to adjust to changing circumstances and take extra care to remain safe. These activities aim to enrich the students' wellbeing, and socio-emotional and cognitive/academic development.

Manual For The Integration Of Child Care Practices And Mental Health Into Nutrition Programs

Manual For The Integration Of Child Care Practices And Mental Health Into Nutrition Programs was developed to promote the integration of mental health and child care practices within nutrition. This technical guide offers a set of concrete actions and practical orientations to combine focus on prevention and treatment of severe malnutrition with mental health and child care practices. Everyone are encouraged to apply these practices in the Therapeutic Feeding Centre (TFCs) during admissions, playtime or mealtime, and during outpatient treatment. This document can help nutrition program experts to implement child care practices through simple actions. It is presented as a step-by-step tool-kit.

The Resilience Programme for Young Men: A Psychosocial Handbook

The Resilience Programme for Young Men: A psychosocial handbook is a resource for programme managers and trainers in providing psychosocial support for young men living in vulnerable or unstable situations. The handbook provides guidance on managing psychosocial support programmes and sets out a two-day training workshop with psychosocial activities specifically designed for young men living in difficult conditions. The activity catalogue suggesting relevant activities can complement the handbook but also be used separately. It includes guidance for programme managers on integrating resilience building into a variety of youth programmes.

Mainstreaming Psychosocial Care and Support through Child Participation

The Mainstreaming Psychosocial Care and Support through Child Participation was developed for programmes working with children and families affected by HIV and AIDS, poverty and conflict. Child participation is an inspiring approach to addressing the needs of children and families affected by HIV and AIDS, conflict and poverty. It brings new perspectives, energy and creativity to development programmes, while contributing directly to the psychosocial wellbeing of all involved. These guidelines are written for individuals working in or funding programmes working with vulnerable children. This resources is useful for project managers, trainers/counsellors, fieldworkers, donors, children involved in a development projec. The guidelines may be used as a training tool for organisations wishing to increase their focus on child participation.

Let’s Talk About It: Check-in Guidance

Let’s Talk About It: Check-in Guidance provides instructions on how to facilitate a 90–120-minute check-in session with children aged six years and up when they arrive back at school or another activity space that was closed due to conflict or crisis. It is designed for use by adults – including classroom teachers – to help children settle back into a regular school routine. Space to discuss their fears and experiences of loss, displacement and other impacts among their peers and with the guidance of a trusted adult will help them to process their feelings and the effect the conflict or crisis is having on them. This guidance can also be used outside of a school context, i.e., in non-formal education settings, children’s clubs, child protection-led activities, livelihood activities, etc. The guide has three adaptations for different contexts: 1. Health emergencies including COVID-19 in English and Arabic 2. Armed conflict in Ukrainian, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Polish 3. Disaster and Earthquakes in Arabic

INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response, Recovery

The INEE Minimum Standards Handbook contains 19 standards, each with accompanying key actions and guidance notes. The handbook aims to enhance the quality of educational preparedness, response and recovery, increase access to safe and relevant learning opportunities and ensure accountability in providing these services. The guidance in the INEE Minimum Standards Handbook is designed for use in crisis response in a range of situations, including disasters caused by natural hazards and conflict, slow- and rapid-onset situations and emergencies in rural and urban environments.

"Journey of Life" Community Workshops to Support Caregivers and Children in Need

The Journey of Life community workshops to support caregivers and children in need' is designed for communities wishing to support children in need and their caregivers. Using picture codes, personal testimonies and role plays, the workshops stimulate reflection, dialogue and action among participants. By taking them through their own life journey they are better able to understand the problems facing children in their care and in their community. Pictures and posters, a core feature of the resource, are designed to facilitate dialogue. Resource mapping and action plans provide communities with an opportunity to identify their capacities and begin to act on their collective responsibility towards these children. The Journey of Life comes with a variety of M&E tools, including forms for committee information, individual attitudinal changes, household changes, and workshop evaluations. GUIDES FOR PARTICIPANTS Main Workshop: Community Implementation Guide (includes Action Workshops 1, 2 and 3 on community parenting, supporting grieving children and teaching life skills to children) Action Workshops 4–7 at synergos.org Action Workshop 8: Ending human trafficking Action Workshop 9: Protecting our children from abuse GUIDES FOR FACILITATORS Main Workshop: Facilitator Training Guide (includes Action Workshops 1, 2 and 3 on community parenting, supporting grieving children and teaching life skills to children) Action Workshops 4-7 at synergos.org Action Workshop 8: Ending human trafficking Action Workshop 9: Protecting our children from abuse MONITORING AND EVALUATION CRS also aided in providing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools to help facilitators measure the change in attitudes and actions by the people who participated in their ""Journey of Life"" workshops. Though the workshops are designed for groups who work on child trafficking and child labor issues, the tools below can be adapted for other settings as well.

INSPIRE Handbook: Action for Implementing the Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children

The INSPIRE Handbook: Action for Implementing the Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children is a technical package of selected strategies based on the best available evidence to help countries and communities intensify their focus on the prevention programmes and services with the greatest potential to reduce violence against children explains in detail how to choose and implement interventions that will fit your needs and context. The seven strategy-specific chapters address the Implementation and enforcement of laws; Norms and values; Safe environments; Parent and caregiver support; Income and economic strengthening; Response and support services; and Education and life skills. The handbook concludes with a summary of INSPIRE’s implementation and impact indicators, drawn from the companion INSPIRE indicator guidance and results framework. The INSPIRE Handbook is a resource for all stakeholders working to end violence against children.

Young Children in Crisis Settings 6: Why Supporting Caregivers’ Mental Health in Crisis Settings is Essential for Young Children’s Holistic Development

The Young Children in Crisis Settings brief highlights the importance of supporting caregivers’ mental health in crisis settings to young children’s holistic development. It presents data on the severity of the global mental health crisis, which is being exacerbated by the lack of funding for psychosocial support for children, youth, and families. The brief focuses on why caregivers’ mental health matters in crisis settings and why it is critical to invest in and prioritize caregivers’ well-being and support in conflict and crisis-affected areas. It shares Illustrative examples of evidence-based interventions, that adopt a whole family approach to promote the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of caregivers, responsive caregiving, and early learning; and how humanitarian workers promote and protect the mental health and psychosocial well-being of caregivers.

Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support into Youth Programming: A Toolkit

The Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support into Youth Programming: A Toolkit provides strategies and tools for designing, implementing, and evaluating mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs and activities for youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and conflict-affected contexts. The Toolkit is a resource for standalone youth MHPSS programs and MHPSS activities that are integrated into cross-sectoral youth-focused programs (e.g., health, gender, and gender-based violence or GBV, workforce development/youth employment, education, violence prevention, peace, and stability, etc.). The Toolkit includes guidance based on good practice for MHPSS, with recommendations for adapting program designs to community needs and the local context.

Parenting and Adolescent Life Skills Programme

The Plan International’s global Parenting and Adolescent Life Skills (PALS) programme is developed for humanitarian teams who support adolescents and their caregivers in emergency and protracted crisis settings. The programme aims to equip adolescents aged 10 to 19 years and their caregivers with essential information, skills and resources to support adolescent health, safety and wellbeing in times of crisis. The programme has been developed in close collaboration with adolescents and caregivers in Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Tanzania. Through local consultations held between May and July 2019, adolescents and their caregivers shared valuable insights about their needs and priorities in relation to their wellbeing, and their existing resources and capacities to cope with crisis situations. In August 2019, the first life skills and parenting sessions were tested in Northeast Nigeria together with younger adolescents (10 to 14 years), older adolescents (15 to 19 years) and their parents/caregivers, supported by frontline staff. The complete PALS programme package includes the following resources: Life Skills curriculum: 13 Life Skills Session plans including facilitation notes Parenting curriculum: 10 Parenting Session plans including facilitation notes Resources for the facilitator to use in the sessions Monitoring and evaluation tools for the facilitator to use before, during and after the sessions Laughter and Play Manual with the games and creative exercises Implementation guide Tools to support implementation Training package with online and in-person learning modules

How to Manage Negative Emotions

The How to Manage Negative Emotions is an infographic material with tips that can help children, parents, and teachers cope with a crisis situation. This one-page leaflet is available in both Czech and Ukrainian languages.

Girl Shine

The Girl Shine is a program model and resource package that seeks to support, protect, and empower adolescent girls in humanitarian settings. Girl Shine has been designed to help contribute to the improved prevention of and response to violence against adolescent girls in humanitarian settings by providing them with skills and knowledge to identify types of GBV and seek support services if they experience or are at risk of GBV. The Girl Shine program model and resource package can be used in multiple humanitarian settings, including conflict and natural disasters, as well as within the various phases of emergency response. It has been adapted to reflect the latest research findings on the experiences of adolescent girls in humanitarian settings, and the nature of GBV against adolescent girls. Included in the resource package are the following: Girl Shine: Advancing the field–designing girl-driven gender based violence programming in Humanitarian settings (Part 1) Girl Shine: Life skills curriculum (Part 2) Girl Shine: Caregiver curriculum (Part 3) Girl Shine: Mentor and facilitator training manual (Part 4)

Young People’s Participation and Mental Health: A Protocol for Practitioners

The Young People’s Participation and Mental Health: A Protocol for Practitioners supports individual and organizational capacities to safeguard the mental health and psychosocial well-being of young people in participation processes, to ensure young people’s meaningful participation across programming, research, advocacy and communications. Developed by UNICEF's Adolescent Development and Participation team, the resource is intended for use by all individuals (including young people themselves) who plan or implement participatory processes with young people -- not only those in the mental health field.

Child Protection Issue Brief: Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of children

The Child Protection Issue Brief: Mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of children presents recommendations for strong collaboration between specialists and sectors to ensure a holistic and child-centered response that fosters the well-being of displaced and refugee children. It aims to preserve and improve the well-being of displaced and refugee children by mainstreaming psychosocial support in all aspects of its work and implementing specific psychosocial support programmes. The mitigation of immediate and long-term risks and consequences for the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals, families and communities is a core part of UNHCR’s protection mandate.

Promoting Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools

The Promoting Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools handbook is primarily for educators, to help them learn about mental health issues and better support them in educational environments. The Handbook aims to provide training to teachers, administrators, and people involved in the education of primary school children about the implementation of mental health literacy into daily school life. Such knowledge, skills and attitudes will equip all levels of educators with key tools to support student mental health, manage difficult classroom behavior, and promote students’ wellbeing and academic success.

The Right of Children to Participate in Public Decision-Making Processes

The Right of Children to Participate in Public Decision-Making Processes is a report commissioned by the Child Rights Governance team at Save the Children and was undertaken by the Centre for Children’s Rights and Family Law at University College Cork and the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University Belfast. It brings together the research literature and the experience of civil society organisations working around the world to promote effective engagement with and participation by children and young people in decisions by national and local governments. Drawing on examples from a variety of countries representing diverse economic, social, political and cultural circumstances, it identifies the building blocks that are conducive to the effective participation of children in public decision-making.

Disability-inclusive Child Safeguarding Guidelines and Toolkit

The Disability-inclusive Child Safeguarding Guidelines and Toolkit have been developed to respond to an existing gap in child safeguarding practices, which often fail to recognize the specific requirements and adaptations needed to ensure the safety of children with disabilities. The guidelines build on consultations with children and youth with disabilities as well as experience from over 20 organisations. They serve to build knowledge and frame the rationale supporting the relevance and necessity of Disability-Inclusive Child Safeguarding. Through the guidelines, you will find information about best practices, as well as practical tools and helpful recommendations. The different chapters are useful for both organising for disability-inclusive child safeguarding and for making each step of the child safeguarding cycle disability-inclusive. The toolkit provides helpful solutions for organisations and practitioners working across development and humanitarian sectors on how to plan for disability-inclusive child safeguarding programmes. Each tool provided shows how to include children with disabilities within programmes, this is important as it is essential we identify, monitor, and build into our programme design risks that children with disabilities may experience as a result of engaging in activities or programmes.

Self-regulation for Children

The Self-regulation for Children is an infographic material with tips that can help children cope with a crisis situation. The infographic is divided with self-regulation tips into 3 age categories: 5-11 years; 5-18 years; 9-18 years old. This one-page leaflet is available in both Czech and Ukrainian languages.

Now I’m Stronger: Focused Activities for Children's Emotions (FACE)

Now I’m Stronger Focused Activities for Children's Emotions (FACE) is a 10 session curriculum adapted for 6-17 year olds developed by the International Rescue Committee in Lebanon. It aims to promote two main characteristics: active participation and the development of life skills to support positive coping and resilience capacities of children.

Safeguarding in Sport and Sport for Development: A Practitioner’s Guide from Policy to Action

The Safeguarding in Sport and Sport for Development: A Practitioner’s Guide from Policy to Action provides a useful guide on how governments, sports confederations, organisations, clubs and individuals working in sport and Sport for Development can develop policies, guidelines and implement measures designed to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. The Safeguarding in Sport practitioner’s resource is a toolbox for organisations, facilitators - those who teach, coach or lead sporting activities, for parents and guardians and communities in Africa. It provides comprehensive guidance on developing safeguarding policies and practice in sport and sport for development contexts and is an important training resource for athletes, coaches and sports officials. Sport and Sport for Development is not just about the games. Sporting activities are used as a tool to engage target populations in programmes that work towards development goals such as peace promotion, gender equity, education, inclusion and health. To achieve this, effective safeguarding measures are essential to ensure that the right to participation in sport and physical activity in a safe and harm free environment for enjoyment – regardless of age, gender, origin or ability is fulfilled. This practitioner’s guide on Safeguarding in Sport and Sport for Development (S4D) Contexts is a product of an intensive and inclusive process that comprised a wide range of stakeholders. It has been developed in accordance with recognised best practice but with the African context in mind.

Storybook: Big Journey, Big Feelings Child Protection

The Storybook: Big Journey, Big Feelings Child Protection was developed for Ukrainian children who have left their country will be or are experiencing a whirlwind of emotions and significant stress on their mental health. This social story has been designed to be given to Ukrainian children to help them process intense feelings and questions during an incredibly difficult time.

Storybooks: Heroes Cry Too and Meeting a Hero

The Meeting a Hero and the Heroes Cry Too are two colouring book for children created by Alicja Safarzyńska-Płatos, a designer with a background in psychology, in consultation with psychologists in Poland, Ksenia Potępa (Illustrator), Ewa Jankowska (Translator), and others. The Meeting a Hero storybook is developed for children dealing with the fears linked to the war in Ukraine. The Heroes Cry Too storybook is designed to be used with children who are a part of host communities and may interact with children who have fled Ukraine. Both storybooks can also be used as a colouring book.

Youth Advocacy Toolkit

The Youth Advocacy toolkit is for any young person who wants to start their own advocacy campaign. If you are a teacher or a facilitator, you can also use this toolkit with your group to inspire them to work out which children’s rights issues they care about and how to go about creating the change they want to see. Youth-led advocacy is about supporting children and young people to speak up and helping them actively take part in the decisions that affect their lives. This toolkit will give you the skills and information you need to stand up for what is important to you. The Toolkit consists of: Youth Advocacy Guide and Youth Advocacy Guide Workplan.

Hopefully Healthy Happy Living Toolkit

Hopefully Healthy Happy Living Toolkit is a set of materials directed towards children, parents, caregivers and teachers in various settings, which promote psychosocial wellbeing and link with key life skills to strengthen social and emotional learning. The toolkit provides useful resources for families and school communities for current times in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also designed for broader reach too, being equally relevant to any kind of crisis or emergency in seeking to support the health, happiness and hopefulness of communities wherever they may be. There are three tools in this toolkit. They are: (1) the Guide for Teachers, (2) the Parent-Caregiver Guide and (3) the Activity Guide for Teachers, Parents and Children. 1. Guide for Teachers – This Guide has been designed for teachers supporting children in their return to school in the wake of the pandemic. It opens with a set of general group-building exercises, followed by themed activities focussing on 16 key life skills supporting the personal, cognitive and interpersonal development of children. The exercises are suitable for a wide range of different age groups from pre-school to secondary school. The exercises could also be combined with sports and leisure activities in clubs or community centres, and in safe spaces for children in humanitarian settings. 2. Parent-Caregiver Guide – This booklet has been developed for parents and caregivers and is designed to provide guidance and inspiration around psychosocial wellbeing in the household in the face of challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. It features six fictional families from different corners of the world who are facing challenges in their lives in the course of dealing with COVID-19. Positive messages to encourage parents and caregivers in the care of their children at this demanding time are given such as structuring the day, taking time to check in with one another, using positive discipline, talking about loss, dealing with stigma, and protecting children online. At the end of the guide, there is a useful checklist for the whole household to help everyone reflect on how they are doing as a family. There is also a set of prompts for families who wish to make a COVID-19 hero book. 3. Activity Guide – This Guide for Teachers, Parents and Children features fun activities for children at home, in school or for remote use. In a home learning environment, for example, the activities could be done with a sibling group. Each activity is flagged as best done with a group or whether it may be adapted for use with a single child. The activities have been carefully designed to engage with children in relation to social and emotional learning around self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and decision-making.

Magnificent Mei

The Magnificent Mei comics and an accompanying Teacher’s Guide were created to support social and emotional learning among adolescents. By promoting social and emotional learning and skills practice, the Comic Book and Teacher’s Guide aim to help promote psychosocial well-being, prevent mental health conditions, and reduce risky behaviours in adolescents. The Magnificent Mei and Friends Comic Book is for adolescents aged 10-14 years. Through a combination of images and text, the Comic intends to engage and shape students’ attitudes by promoting empathy and critical thinking. As a form of storytelling, the Comic presents real-life scenarios and situations young adolescents may face in their everyday lives. Seeing comparable experiences through fictional characters’ eyes can help validate the feelings of young people and let them know they are not alone. Combined with classroom-based activities and lessons, comics can be an effective tool to support students’ social and emotional learning.

The Nine Basic Requirements for Meaningful and Ethical Children’s Participation

The Nine Basic Requirements for Meaningful and Ethical Child Participation provides guidance on how to have meaningful child participation safely and ethically. This is a key tool for ensuring quality child participation in any initiative with children. It is presented in an easy-to-read colorful format and includes checklists and simple tools for easy access and use. They help to improve quality across global programs, advocacy, and campaigns. Further, they help ensure children’s voices are heard and respected.