In the last year, International Organization of Migration (IOM) Pakistan has scaled up its operations and presence in country to respond to the influx of Afghan refugees since 2021 when the Taliban took over the government. By the end of March 2022, it is estimated around 1.3 million Afghan refugees are residing in Pakistan. Additionally, since mid-June 2022, Pakistan has been hit with severe flooding and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rainfall have brought. The current flood crisis in Pakistan has killed over 1,500 people, destroyed close to one million houses; with 33 million people estimated to be directly impacted where it has been estimated 46% of the affected population are children. With this, IOM Pakistan has been scaling up its response in country to support the different emergencies. With more implementing partners being engaged and higher engagement with beneficiaries, it is essential that all the stakeholders are sensitized about the mental health of Afghan migrants.
Since 1998, IOM has provided mental health services and psychosocial support to migrants, displace and conflict affected population in many countries worldwide. Individuals with good mental health can cope with the normal stressors of life and can contribute to his or her society. This conference would aim to facilitate mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) experts and managers in designing, implementing, and evaluating mental health and psychosocial support projects and activities for emergency-affected and displaced populations in humanitarian settings. This activity would aim to discuss the collective and contextual elements of consequences of adversities and possible solutions for the mental health issues faced by migrants, displaced, and the affected community. The participants would learn to work on improve the collective reactions to adversity and of social cohesion, social supports, identities, and social textures in determining individual and social wellbeing after disasters.