Lessons learnt from the psychosocial response to the tsunami Coordination and collaboration
The massive influx of national and international agencies and individuals to the areas worst affected by the tsunami was overwhelming for the local authorities and coordinating bodies.
A good example is from Battiacola in Sri Lanka, where in the three weeks after the tsunami, the number of psychosocial partners participating in the coordinating mechanism increased from less than 20 to 72.
In many affected areas there were no coordinating mechanisms at all. This had dire consequences in some areas, with examples of the same population being targeted by multiple organizations at the same time, whilst other affected communities were not reached at all. A lack of coordination also meant a lack of control of the standards of responses and quality of psychosocial interventions.
Unfortunately this led to examples of interventions that risked doing greater harm than good, such as visiting foreign psychologists or psychiatrists initiating psychotherapy with affected individuals for the three or four weeks they had taken to come and assist, and then leaving again with no follow-up mechanisms for the affected individuals set in place.
Volunteers from Palang Merah Indonesia (Indonesian Red Cross Society) engaging in psychosocial activities with school students in a tent provided by UNICEF. Photo by Palang Merah Indonesia Recommendations for future responses:
We have learnt a great deal from the tsunami-experience on how coordination and collaboration between partners can be improved in the future. Some key actions are listed below, and more detailed recommendations on coordination can be found in the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings.
Join the coordinating mechanism: Join the existing, or advocate for the establishment of a coordinating body for mental health and psychosocial support responses. This can be at sub-national or national level. Conduct joint assessments: Try to plan assessments on needs and resources together with other partners. This minimizes the stress on individuals, families and communities that can be experienced every time a new agency arrives to ask questions on what has happened and what can be done. Share information: Share as much information with other partners on findings of needs assessments; planned responses and time-frames; intended targeted populations; and program partners. This improves the chances of reaching all the people who need assistance in the best way possible. Holistic response: Share information and link up with partners from other areas or sectors to ensure a holistic response to the needs of the affected population. Collaboration and cooperation partners The community: The first and most foremost partner to collaborate with is the community that needs assistance. Representatives from the affected population and communities should be involved in all aspects and stages of a psychosocial intervention: assessing needs and resources; planning; implementation; monitoring and evaluating; and ending the intervention. Other partners: It is critical for the success and sustainability of a psychosocial intervention that partnership is sought with local authorities (government departments) and with community-based NGOs. To enable a holistic response it is also good to collaborate with partners who can provide services or responses that your National Society cannot.
Joint training: Try to plan joint trainings in psychosocial support with other active stakeholders. This will enhance the reach of trainings and help to ensure high quality of all psychosocial support providers. Share progress: Use the coordinating mechanism to share the progress, both successes and challenges, of the psychosocial interventions. This forum can provide solutions to challenges; identify gaps in responses; and pave the way forward. Coordinate dissemination of information: If there is a need to distribute IEC materials to the affected population, for example on ‘normal reactions to abnormal events’; coordinate such information dissemination with other partners so that communities are not overwhelmed with different, and at times contradictory or confusing, information from different sources. Coordinate fundraising: Joint fundraising by multiple partners for psychosocial interventions lays the groundwork for positive collaboration during implementation. It invites holistic responses to needs and enables resources needed for successful coordination and collaboration. Joint advocacy: Successful coordination and collaboration between partners also enables successful advocacy for attention to mental health and psychosocial needs.
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