| SPECIAL SECTION |
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| Year : 2013 | Volume
: 11
| Issue : 3 | Page : 340-348 |
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Inter-agency coordination of mental health and psychosocial support for refugees and people displaced in Syria
Liyam Eloul1, Constanze Quosh2, Rawan Ajlani3, Naira Avetisyan4, Mouta Barakat5, Lidia Barakat6, Mohammad Waleed Ikram7, Louay Shammas8, Victoria Diekkamp9
1 Associate Community Services Officer (Psychosocial) with the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programme, UNHCR Syria
2 head of the Mental Health and Support Psychosocial Programme of UNHCR in Syria from 2008 to 2013. She is currently the urban refugee programming specialist for UNHCR in Sudan
3 Psychosocial Case Worker of the MHPSS Programme UNHCR Syria from 2009 to 2011
4 worked at UNICEF Syria Office as Child Protection Specialist, Head of Child Protection Section (2010-2012)
5 assistant professor in Mental Health at the Psychological Counseling Department, University of Damascus, from 1994 to 2012. He has worked as a psychotherapist in private practice, and as expert and trainer for various Syrian institutions
6 Terre des hommes Lausanne and SSCC in Syria as a psychotherapist and trainer
7 Medical Director of the International Medical Corps in Syria
8 psychiatrist with multidisciplinary mental health teams of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and Terre des hommes / SSCC (since 2009 in Syria)
9 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as Senior Manager. She worked for the EU financed Health Sector Modernisation Program in Syria from 2008 to 2010
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
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The current crisis in Syria has greatly escalated need, while simultaneously damaging infrastructure within the country. In order for humanitarian efforts to be effective, understanding the mental health profile of the population concerned, pre-existing mental health system, resources and gaps, as well as an evaluation of the current service situation is vital. This paper provides an analysis of the shifting resources and infrastructure available to the affected populations in Syria, complementing the systematic review of mental health outcomes elsewhere in this issue. Assessment results from Syria are presented, and capacities and gaps assessed. This article describes how previous, protracted humanitarian and development centred inter-agency efforts to evaluate and improve the mental health and psychosocial system in Syria can be applied as a foundation, and adjusted to address the current internally displaced persons and refugee crises in the country.
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