This paper describes an instrument for the monitoring and evaluation of programs designed to improve the psychosocial well being of children: the Community Participatory Evaluation Tool (CPET). The community plays an important role when the evaluation tool is properly utilised. The rationale for use of the tool is explained, and its application in practice is illustrated with a case study.

This article describes a study on the impact of war on Eritrean children living in an internally displaced persons camp in the Gash Barka region. It is based on a psychosocial needs assessment conducted within the framework of a psychosocial project by the Dutch non-governmental organisation (NGO) ‘War Child’. Key research questions used included; the nature of the traumatic experiences of the children, the prevalence of psychosocial problems, and the need for therapeutic intervention. Methods included; the analysis of previously conducted studies in Eritrea, open interviews and focus group discussions with key informants, and systematic observation of war-affected children. Findings suggest that powerful factors protected children from the impact of the war, and thus prevented the occurrence of severe post traumatic stress reactions.

In this article, war experiences, psychological symptoms, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, and the physical and sexual abuses of formerly abducted girls in Northern Uganda were assessed. In a cross-sectional self-report design, questionnaires were administered to 123 formerly abducted girls. Data originating from records at three rehabilitation centres were analysed. The girls had been exposed to horrific war events, participated in shocking atrocities, were physically and sexually abused, and diagnosed with diseases resulting from their abduction. As a result, many are psychologically distressed. There are child mothers and a few were pregnant at the time of the study. Training in entrepreneurial skills and teaching better coping skills are suggested as activities in psychosocial intervention.

In this pilot study we tested whether Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or major depression inhibits psychosocial adaptation in refugees. We tested a group of sixty-three refugees from the former Yugoslavia prior to and following attendance at a group family in cultural transition (FICT) program. The tests studied were for the presence PTSD, depression, and psychosocial functioning. Almost half of the pilot group dropped out before completion of the program, an outcome not predicted by psychiatric status. Those with no psychiatric disorder made gains in psychosocial functioning during the course of the program. People with PTSD or depression, did not. Completion of the program did not alter rates of psychiatric disturbance. In a multivariate analysis, depression emerged as the main factor that accounted for poor outcomes. When present, clinical depression may require treatment before refugees attend resettlement programs of this type.

Ten years after war and genocide in Rwanda took almost a million lives; trauma still exists on a large scale. This is especially true amongst adolescents where it hampers the process of reconciliation. As a result, crisis outbreaks frequently occur at secondary schools. In this article, an intervention for secondary schools is described that promotes trauma awareness and healing within a school environment. This intervention appears to succeed in preventing trauma crisis: in the four schools covered by the project, no crisis took place. It also accelerated the process of reconciliation amongst the students from different ethnic groups: they were able to commemorate and mourn together with dignity.

The authors describe a programme for victims of war structured around day care treatment that takes into account the need of patients for structure and at the same time makes it possible for them to re-experience the trauma. This programme consists of a combination of a storytelling group and art therapy.