Red Crescent scales-up Psycho-Social Support

Red Crescent scales-up psycho social support to vulnerable populations

In the framework of a European Union funded project for support to protection of vulnerable groups, internally displaced people in Libya will receive psychosocial support from Red Crescent volunteers to tackle the distress, loss and grief they have suffered from the on-going violence and conflict that has left more than 1.3 million people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance.

Twenty-two Libyan Red Crescent volunteers gathered in Tunis this week to attend a five-day training of trainers in community-based psychosocial support. The training will equip the volunteers with skills to assist people who have suffered emotional and psychological trauma as well as to establish safe and supportive activities for children.

“Too often, we forget the invisible, psychological wounds of conflict and insecurity,” said the Secretary General of the Libyan Red Crescent Society, Mr. Omar Agouda. “This training of trainers is a very important milestone for the Libyan Red Crescent Society, and it will enable us to significantly scale up our psychosocial support activities in Libya. We expect that more than 300 volunteers will be able to assist migrants and vulnerable families after this training,” he said.

The training of trainers is supported by the European Union and brings together the Libyan Red Crescent Society, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its Reference Centre on Psychosocial Support, as part of a wider project on mental health, psychosocial rehabilitation and socio-economic integration for vulnerable people and at-risk groups in Libya.