OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine starts series of trainings on psychological rehabilitation of conflict-affected populations

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine began training psychologists and social service providers in the psychological rehabilitation of conflict-affected populations on 17 and 18 May in Mariupol, Donetsk Region. This is the first in a series of events piloting the training course and manual developed in 2016 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine at the request of Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.

Nadiya Astanina, Director of the Mariupol City Center of Social Services for Families, Children and Youth, said: “This training will help us to address the psychological challenges that people living in Mariupol are facing in a more professional way.”

Mariupol was chosen as the location for the initiation of the pilot courses due to its proximity to the conflict zone. The psychologists and social workers based here require professional support to deal with stress and other psychological problems being experienced by the large number of internally displaced and demobilized persons in the city.

Further training courses in other cities with a large number of ex-combatants and internally displaced persons are also planned.

As a result of this work, further incorporation of the training course into the existing pre-service and in-service training system for social service providers and psychologists is expected.

The event is organized in the framework of OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine’s Project “Assisting Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy in helping people affected by conflict and gender-based violence”