Emergency Toolkit

The Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response

The aim of the handbook is to improve the quality of humanitarian response in situations of disaster and conflict, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system to disaster-affected people. It is the product of the collective experience of many people and agencies. Started in the late 1990’s as an initiative of a group of humanitarian NGOs and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Sphere standards are widely considered the minimum standards in humanitarian response.

Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

This document is endorsed by more than 35 organizations involved in humanitarian assistance. It provides essential guidance for multi-sector responses to protect and improve people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being in the midst of an emergency, offering an overall framework for MHPSS integration, activities and services in humanitarian settings across different sectors such as health, protection and education. The guidelines call for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support services and activities to be implemented in a way that is coordinated, evidence-based, participatory, integrated, avoids harm and builds on existing resources and capacities, and to organizing a multi-layered system of complementary supports that meets the needs of different groups.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Emergencies: What Should Humanitarian Health Actors Know?

Based on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007), this document gives an overview of essential knowledge that humanitarian health actors should have about MHPSS in humanitarian emergencies.

Multi-Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA)

The Multi-Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) is designed to identify strategic humanitarian priorities during the first weeks following an emergency. MIRA should be carried out under the auspices of the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator (while the primary responsibility for coordinating humanitarian assistance rests with national authorities, if international humanitarian assistance is required a Humanitarian Coordinator-HC or Resident Coordinator-RC is responsible for leading and coordinating the efforts of humanitarian organizations (both UN and non-UN)) and wherever possible, led by the government. MIRA is not specifically designed for MHPSS, but it does provide important information on the needs perceived by the affected community. It consists of: - Secondary data analysis (SDA) to determine the extent of the disaster and the number of affected people and to sketch out the strategic humanitarian priorities. - Community level assessment (CLA) - The MIRA Framework to align intra- and inter-sectoral information and to - support humanitarian actors reach a common understanding on strategic - humanitarian priorities. - The assessment normally comes with 2 products: - A Preliminary Scenario Definition, is issued 72 hours after the disaster’s - onset - A MIRA Report, released after 2 weeks.

IASC Reference Group Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Assessment Guide

The purpose of this document is to provide agencies with a guide with three tools containing key assessment questions that are of common relevance to all actors involved in MHPSS independent of the phase of the emergency. This guide will be useful for rapid assessments of MHPSS issues in humanitarian emergencies across sectors.

Who is Where, When, Doing What (4Ws) in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS): Manual with Activity Codes

The IASC Reference group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support 4Ws tool is developed to map MHPSS activities in humanitarian settings across sectors. It is envisioned that this tool will be used by groups with MHPSS coordination responsibilities in emergencies with numerous MHPSS actors. The tool exists of 2 parts: (a) A manual, which describes how to collect the data. (b) A 4Ws Data Collection Spreadsheet application (in Excel).

Inter-Agency Referral Guidance Note for MHPSS

The referral form is intended to be used by humanitarian organisations working with persons with MHPSS problems and is designed to facilitate referrals between and within all four levels of the IASC MHPSS Intervention pyramid. Case Managers and Community Workers may find the tool of particular use in their work with individual clients and their families.

The Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings with Means of Verification: Version 2.0

This document provides guidance in the assessment, research, design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of MHPSS programmes in emergency settings. Although designed specifically for emergency contexts (including protracted crises), the framework may also be applicable for the transition phases from emergency to development (including disaster risk reduction initiatives). The framework assumes familiarity with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings and an understanding of programming in humanitarian relief and/or development. The content of the current publication, including the selection of tools and guidance for means of verification (MoV), was also developed by the IASC MHPSS RG.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Emergencies: What Should Protection Programme Managers Know?

Based on the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (2007), this document gives an overview of essential knowledge that protection programme managers should know about MHPSS in humanitarian emergencies.

Assessing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs and Resources: Toolkit for Humanitarian Setting

This document provides an approach and a toolkit to help those designing and assessing mental health and psychosocial needs and resources in major humanitarian crises. It offers an approach that should help assessors review information that is already available and only collect new data that will be of practical use.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings: What Should Camp Coordination and Camp Management Actos Know?

This document is for humanitarian actors within the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) cluster, at national and subnational levels, in countries facing emergencies and crises. This document provides an overview of essential knowledge that humanitarian actors within the CCCM cluster/sector should have about MHPSS in humanitarian emergencies

IASC Recommendation for Ethical MHPSS Research in Humanitarian Settings

This document provides guidance to ensure MHPSS research in emergencies benefits affected people; design research to fill knowledge gaps in MHPSS theory and practice in emergencies; avoid bad practice, such as research without satisfactory consent of participants and to better understand how to manage ethical challenges in MHPSS research during emergencies.

Checklist for Field Use of IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

This accompanies the IASC MHPSS Guidelines, and is useful to use when time is short, or in facilitating a brief introductory training on the IASC MHPSS guidelines

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, What Should Camp Coordination and Camp Manager Actors Know?

Based on the Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007), this document provides an overview of essential knowledge that humanitarian actors within the CCCM cluster/sector should have about MHPSS in humanitarian emergencies.

Rapid Assessment of Alcohol and Other Substance Use in Conflict-affected and Displaced Populations: A Field Guide

An increase in alcohol and other substance use is amongst the many health and social issues associated with conflict and displacement. Problems with substance use are prevalent in a variety of conflict-affected situations, including camps for refugees and internally displaced people. Psychoactive substances are also often used by combatants. This guide is written for those who plan to include in their work rapid assessments of alcohol and other substance use among conflict-affected and displaced populations.

Rapid Assessment Guide for Psychosocial Support and Violence Prevention in Emergencies and Recovery

This guide provides standards and directions on how to carry out rapid needs assessment for Psychosocial Support (PSS) and Violence Prevention (VP) initiatives including child protection and sexual and gender-based violence. In particular, this rapid assessment tool is designed to help gather data in an efficient and effective way to help inform integration of PSS and VP issues, as minimum standards, into the broader disaster management action plans in response to an emergency.