Focusing on the mental well-being of staff and volunters

In this project, we are working together on toolkits that aim to address an urgent need in refugee assistance: 

• supporting the mental wellbeing of staff and volunteers and; 

• applying trauma-informed approaches in our work with refugees and migrants. 

The project and the toolkits are grounded in research from seven European countries (Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, the Netherlands and Hungary) and shaped by the real experiences of refugee-assisting organisations. The goal is simple: to develop tools that are practical, accessible, and can be adapted by any organisations working with and for refugees and migrants.

The first day of the event provided an opportunity for partners to present their country findings and discuss their inputs to the comparative report. Participants were also provided with the opportunity to understand the Hungarian operational context better and learn from the experience of other Hungarian NGOs about how they tackle working under political pressure and what affects it can have on the mental health of staff and volunteers. The second day of the meeting was dedicated to a training on the mental well-being of staff and volunteers organised by the Cordelia Foundation. The training focused on the concept of trauma and torture, the consequences of trauma and well-being and self-care. Lastly, the third day focused on the interactive development of the toolkit outline for each topic. This event also provided a great opportunity to share good practices among participating organisations. We were glad that our Hungarian refugee focus group members were also able to share their experiences and inputs at the event.

The first toolkit will be published later this year. It will be open access, and we hope that it will contribute to strengthening the wider field of refugee protection in Europe. 
 
You can find further information about the project here: https://helsinki.hu/en/caring-to-include/