Alleviating the Effects of War and Displacement on Children

The mental health of children is severely compromised by war and consequent displacement. Nations have a duty under various UN agreements to alleviate the effects of war on children's mental health. This paper argues that fostering mental health in communities starts with re-establishing safety, basic health needs, education and recreation. School and other community leaders need education in recognizing stress reactions and in providing basic first aid. Large-scale programmes need to be developed and validated for delivery following wars and disasters. Once such validated programme is described. Small group and individual work is also needed. As long as wars and disasters happen, so the international mental health community needs to prepare positively to meet the predictable, but usually unexpected needs.