DIGNITY,IFH sign agreement to expand the reach of MHPSS services
Jordan Daily – Institute for Family Health (IFH) and DIGNITY – Danish Institute Against Torture signed a partnership today to further expand the reach of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services through a capacity building programme for psychologists and physiotherapists, and expand it to include private and governmental sectors with a special focus on youth.
The new program also aims to research and understand MHPSS situation amongst youth through IFH’s sister organization, Information and Research Center – King Hussein Foundation. The programme is funded by Danish Arab Partnership Programme (DAPP) under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
The signing ceremony was attended by IFH’s Director Dr. Ibrahem Aqel, DIGNITY’S Deputy Director Morten Olsen, DIGNITY Jordan Office Director Yasar Abduh and DAPP’s Senior Advisor Andreas Thulstrup.
IFH’s Director, Dr. Ibraheem Aqel, commended the strategic partnership with DIGNITY, which started in 2007, noting that this cooperation has contributed significantly to the implementation of several programs that meet the psychological, social and health needs of survivors of violence.
Dr. Aqel referred to the first outcomes of this partnership with DIGNITY, which took place in 2008, when IFH launched the first local counselling center to provide rehabilitation services to survivors of violence.
He also highlighted the role of DIGNITY’s training programmes of IFH’s specialists in developing the capacities and competencies of the Institute nationally and regionally, stressing the significance of expanding this partnership and cooperation between the two institutions in the future.
“This partnership will strengthen our efforts and support for IFH’s crucial and relevant programmes which rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of torture and violence into society. I am thrilled that our collaboration will continue in the years to come,” said Olsen.
On behalf of DIGNITY, Olsen expressed his happiness in the continuation of the partnership with IFH with a focus on enabling access of vulnerable youth to Mental Health support.
“DIGNITY Jordan values greatly the continued collaboration with its strategic partner, IFH, that stretched for more than a decade of unique informed mental health and Psychosocial program in Jordan and looks forward to renewed successful joint interventions within an inclusive human rights approach that will benefit the vulnerable population in our country,” said Abduh.
“The partnership that we are honoring today will ensure that mental health and psychosocial support for victims of torture will continue under the Human Rights and Inclusion Consortium in the new phase of the Danish Arab Partnership Programme (2022-2027).
The partnership between Dignity and IFH embodies the highly specialized and integrative treatment required in this work. Your project will be a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable people in this country,” said Thulstrup.
