No Lost Generation - Mapping Phase II Report - Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) programming for Syrian and Iraqis

The unabated violence of the Syrian conflict has deeply affected the physical, mental health and psychosocial well-being of children, adolescents, youth and their parents/caregivers. During nearly nine years of conflict, over 5.6 million people have fled to neighbouring refugee hosting countries and beyond.1 Many of them have witnessed or experienced the death or separation from loved ones, displacement, physical harm, and exposure to violent situations. The psychosocial impact of conflict-related violence, coupled with the stressors of displacement, including the lack of livelihood options, violence, disruption of social networks, traditional ways of coping, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, are having an unprecedented negative impact on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of children, adolescents, youth and their families. With the projected impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of populations across the world, the pandemic has strengthened the case for the need of integrated MHPSS services across the Syrian humanitarian response, including for children, adolescents and youth.

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Task Force of the No Lost Generation (NLG) was established in March 2019 with the aim to improve the coordination and quality of the MHPSS response for children, adolescents and youth in line with the 3RP programmes. To gain a better understanding of the response at the regional level, the MHPSS Task Force initiated in November 2019 a mapping of MHPSS programmes targeting children, adolescents, youth and their parents/caregivers in Syria and from Syria and Iraq crises affected countries – Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The first phase of the mapping (November 2019-January 2020) consisted of a survey that was completed by 42 organizations (56% international non-governmental organizations (INGOs); 21% UN agencies; 18% NGOs and five per cent government agencies), and the outcomes included a desk review and a descriptive mapping of MHPSS programmes. This first phase of the mapping was conducted in collaboration with the MHPSS and Child Protection working groups at the national level, which primarily supported the dissemination of the survey. The main caveat of this phase was the limited qualitative information that was collected. The second phase of the mapping (March-May 2020) consisted of a qualitative review of identified MHPSS programmes during Phase I, employing document review and semi-structured interviews. Thirty-nine interviews were conducted with MHPSS staff from 20 organizations.