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DPI/NGO Briefing The Psychological Impacts of Natural Disasters Summary This week’s briefing focused on the “Psychological Impacts of Natural Disasters.” Critical issues such as psychological support systems, relief coordination efforts, and the needed contribution of NGOs were addressed. Dr. Gerard A. Jacobs, Director, Disaster Mental Health Institute, Ms. Anne Cubile, Policy & Guidance Management, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mr. Charles P. Bernimolin, Officer, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and Mr. Nassim Agazade, Critical Incident Stress Management Unit, Department of Safety of Security, United Nations provided the audience with a balanced and informative understanding of the subject. Dr. Gerard A. Jacobs began his presentation
by describing the difference between direct and indirect victims
in a disaster. Those directly affected were the victims who lost
their lives and the survivors. Indirect victims included rescue
workers, the families of direct victims, and those involved in international
humanitarian relief efforts. Dr. Jacobs added that International
relief efforts rarely took into account the psychological trauma
of the event. Ms. Anne Cubilie emphasized the value of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines. She noted that they were important for practitioners, NGOs, and humanitarian personnel because they provided a series of steps to monitor and evaluate one’s own responses. In addition, they provided indicators for measurements, and dealt with the stress of the workers themselves. Psychological support and traumatic stress counseling were areas of work that were still being developed in the humanitarian field and unfortunately, received little field support. To add to this problem, there were very few specialists in the field that could handle coordinating people at the national level and had the expertise to work with survivors. Very few specialists were actually trained to take testimony from survivors about their experience, she said. Ms. Cubilie concluded by saying, “we need a lot more work done on training the people who in a daily way participate in working with survivors on recovery issues.” Mr. Charles P. Bernimolin addressed the difficulties of coordinating relief efforts. Both at Headquarters and in the field, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) needed to work together effectively in coordinating response teams. He pointed out that as the world had become more connected, more people were involved in the relief efforts, and therefore, more coordination was needed. Mr. Bernimolin went on to say that often the role of coordinating fieldwork meant providing a forum for response management teams to meet throughout the process to discuss an appropriate plan of action. He added that humanitarian assistance came at the request of the Government involved. OCHA was there to support the government in their efforts. He referred to the Central Emergency Relief Fund as a means of acquiring additional financial support. Mr. Bernimolin then turned his attention to the victims of natural disasters and the difficult psychological impacts that needed to be dealt with. He acknowledged that OCHA was better equipped to handle to the physical impact of disasters, but unfortunately, not as prepared to deal with these psychological consequences. However, he added that if you involved the local people, the government and those on the ground, in addressing the crisis, it helped them to better cope with the situation. Nassim Agazade focused on the work of the
Critical Incident Stress Management Unit (CISMU) of the United Nations
Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS). This Unit was responsible
for coordinating and implementing the global stress management-training
program, as well as coordinating the response to critical incidents
worldwide within the UN system. Their goal was to construct a global
stress management system for the United Nations. The objectives
of CISMU included, bringing mental health issues to the agenda of
decision makers, to build operational and fully functional critical
incident stress management cells in various selected areas of the
world, and to respond to psychosocial needs of UN staff. Mr. Agazade
went on to explain that these objectives were met through several
strategies such as organizing the different global parties involved
in a crisis and sending counselors to help the UN staff in the field.
They also provided technical support to the country experiencing
the emergency. The United Nations Standard of Procedure for Critical
Stress Management focused on assembling United Nations officers
and staff prior to a crisis. During an emergency, attention is turned
to the psychosocial needs of United Nations workers, and in the
aftermath, new and emerging needs were attended to. As an example
of CISMU in action, Mr. Agazade described an earthquake in Pakistan
and the objectives involved with this crisis and most emergencies
in general. Strategies for achieving these objectives and the results
obtained were also explained. CISMU was able to reach about 50%
of all the United Nations workers in Pakistan after the earthquake,
which was about 1,500 people. During the question-and-answer period, Dr. Jacobs clarified the IASC Guideline on expatriates not providing psychological support to those affected by trauma because they did not understand all the local cultures and customs sufficiently. Local staff should provide that type of support. In addition, if international experts trained to local staff in counseling, the support could continue after the international staff left the country. All the panelists agreed that the international community had come a long way in acknowledging the importance of psychological support before, during and after a crisis but there was much more to be done. A video from the “UN in the 21 Century” series entitled, Aftershock: The Earthquake in Pakistan, as well as two “UN in Action” videos, Nias Rebuilds After Earthquake, and UN Project Aims to Prevent Loss of Life When Natural Disasters Strike were screened at 10:00 a.m. The briefing was attended by about 150 representatives
of NGOs, United Nations and Permanent Mission staff.
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