Comhlámh > Working for a Better World – Sustaining Civic Engagement

‘WORKING FOR A BETTER WORLD – SUSTAINING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT’ PROJECT 

Explore our Psychosocial Support Resources aimed at sustaining building resistance of those involved in solidarity-based responses to migration. 

The past decade has seen the movement of millions of women, men and children across land and sea, making increasingly dangerous journeys to seek lives of safety, dignity and meaning.  Within Europe, many support networks and initiatives have emerged in solidarity with people seeking refuge. These include civil society organisations, faith-based groups, community initiatives, activists and search and rescue operations.  

Those responding, as well as being witness to the endurance and courage of many of those who make the journey, also witness the suffering of people on the move. The impacts of this can be painful, overwhelming, stressful or potentially traumatic. However, many of those responding also speak to the vicarious resilience of working alongside those making the journey, as well as deepening awareness of their own capacity for endurance and those of their peers. 

MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT (MHPSS) RESOURCES
for Refugee and Migrant Solidarity Responders 

Funded by the Erasmus+, the “Working for a Better World – Sustaining Civic Engagement” project seeks to support responders in their ongoing work and witness. With partners from Greece (Action Aid Hellas), Italy (CESIE) and Spain (Ulex), we developed mental health and psychosocial support resources that aim to help to build resilient practices and cultures within networks and organisations of responders. These resources aim to respond to both the trauma of the witness, as well as the profound courage of those who survive. 

We invite you to read through these psychosocial support resources and use them in your practice. We hope they will support responders in the essential task of resourcing themselves and their peers, in a way that nurtures wider, more sustainable ecosystems of care. For more information and if you have any feedback, please contact dervla@comhlamh.org. 

Research – Report from Ireland

Each partner conducted research into their countries to map existing psychosocial supports for responders working with migrants, highlight gaps, and identify good practice. Download the Report from Ireland below. 

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Psychosocial Resilience Training  Manual

Building on the research, this comprehensive Psychosocial Resilience Training Manual contains reflections and practices that can help anyone engaged in solidarity-based responses to migration. The Manual covers acknowledging and responding to the trauma of bearing witness; skills in down-regulating stress and high activation; and developing intercultural awareness in service of relationships of solidarity. 

DOWNLOAD THE  MANUAL 

Psychosocial Learning Resource 

A Psychosocial Learning Resource for Refugee and Migrant Solidarity Responders assists readers in better understanding trauma and resilience and the impacts of sustained stress on the mind, body and nervous system. It sets out easy-to-follow, practical exercises to support self- and peer-to-peer regulation. It encourages responders to understand that the more we are balanced, regulated and rooted within ourselves, the more sustainable the work – and witness – becomes. 

DOWNLOAD THE RESOURCE 

VIDEO: ROOTING RESILIENCE: SUSTAINING CIVIL RESPONSE

The recording of the Panel Discussion on Psychosocial Support Resources for Migrant Solidarity Responders 

In recognition of International Volunteer Day 2021, we organised a discussion with an international panel of Search and Rescue personnel, medics, psychosocial workers and camp volunteers. At the event, we also launched the project’s psychosocial resources listed above, aimed at supporting and sustaining those involved in solidarity-based responses to migration.  

Project Partners

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