MHPSS conference programme for Monday, 7 October

Introduction
​Moderator: Fionnuala Sweeney, former CNN anchor, communications director Atlantic Institute, Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health

Welcome to KIT Royal Tropical Institute
Mark Schneiders, CEO of KIT Royal Tropical Institute​

Handover from the 2018 London MHPSS Summit
Tim Kendall, National Clinical Director for Mental Health (England)​

Opening speech
Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation​​ (Netherlands)​

The importance of continuity: UK, Netherlands, France
Frank Bellivier, Ministerial Delegate for Mental Health and Psychiatry, Ministry of Health (France)

From global mental health to MHPSS in crisis situations
Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross​​ (ICRC)

Panel discussion: Voices from the field
Examples from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Uganda
Zaki Omari, psychosocial support focal person of the Afghan Red Crescent Society
Jeyatheepa Punniyamoorthy, commissioner of Office on Missing Persons (Sri Lanka)
Sylvia Acan, director of Golden Women Vision; member of SEMA Global Network (Uganda)

TED-like talk: The importance of staff support
Fabrizio Hochschild, Special Adviser on the Preparations for the Commemoration of the United Nations’ 75th Anniversary

Panel discussion: Scaling up MHPSS & task shifting

Country experience: Lebanon – Building back better
Rabih El Chammay, head of National Mental Health Programme (Lebanon)

Country experience: Sri Lanka MHPSS – MHPSS preparedness
Ananda Galappatti, Director of Strategy MHPSS.net & technical advisor GIZ (Sri Lanka)

STRENGTHS​ project: Scaling up psychological interventions with Syrian refugees
Marit Sijbrandij, Director WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions; Associate Professor Clinical Psychology VU Amsterdam (Netherlands)

From English and economy student, to refugee, to MHPSS worker
Abdul Karim Albrem (Syria), Chair of the National Youth Advisory Board of Refugees for Addiction and Trauma issues in Germany; UNHCR advocate

Friendship Bench, Zimbabwe
Dixon Chibanda (Zimbabwe), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Helpline, Yemen
Bilqis Jubari, founder of the Family Counseling and Development Foundation (Yemen)

Parallel in-depth breakout sessions

1. Scaling up MHPSS during and after emergencies
Sarah Harrison (IFRC), Fahmy Hanna (WHO), Mohamed Elshazly (UNHCR)
2. Workforce development
Alison Schafer (WHO), Brandon Kohrt (George Washington University)
3. Investment in MHPSS
Dan Chisholm (WHO), Rabih El Chammay (Lebanon), Sarah Kline (UK)
4. A just and inclusive society
Julian Eaton (CBM)
5. Research and innovation
Jura Augustinavicius, Wietse Tol (JHU)

Drinks & visual feedback on the breakout sessions