IOM Trains Libyan Civil Society Organizations in Psychosocial Support

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM has completed a three-month project to build capacity and mentor 35 community-based organizations in Tripoli in the field of psychosocial support.

The project, funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), was implemented in partnership with Libya's Ministry of Culture and Civil Society.

Activities included a mapping and analysis of civil society organizations (CSOs) associated with psychosocial support; the selection of the right organizations, who received a total of eighteen training sessions; and on the job mentoring to ensure that the tools acquired through the training were appropriately applied.

Training topics covered psychosocial support, community conflict mediation, individual and group counselling, capabilities and human development, community-based recreational and social activities, program identity and project cycle planning.

The program aimed to create sustainable linkages between the organizations to help them to work together towards harmony and peace, and meet the many pressing needs in mental health care that continue to plague Libyan society three years on from the revolution.

British Ambassador to Libya Michael Aron noted the need for projects of this type and emphasized the need for ongoing momentum.

“Over 90 participants took part in this demanding program and we were delighted by their enthusiastic desire to support Libyan families in overcoming the psychological burdens that they have carried for so long,” said IOM Libya psychosocial program manager Marcio Gagliato.

Since the revolution and the ensuing conflict, volunteerism has expanded and the number of civil society organizations in Libya has expanded. Many participants are ordinary people committed to breaking the cycle of violence and rebuilding a social fabric destroyed by conflict and decades of suppression of free expression.

The project built on two years of related work carried out by IOM through three community-based centers in Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata.

To learn more about IOM Libya CSO Capacity Building, please go to http://www.psychosocial-csos.ly/webstep/