The handbook, edited by GRT and UNHCR in 2009, is designed to be used as training support handbook for helping professionals in the Somali context. The focus is on psychosocial needs for the rehabilitation of persons with trauma, mental health related forms of distress and those who have experienced gender based violence and gender related abuses. The guidelines, developed within a UNHCR funded programme in Somalia, are intended to assist staffs, who are concerned with providing protection and assistance to refugees and IDP. The extent of the problem of GBV and psychosocial needs in the context of refugees requires all staff to understand and master basic skills in addressing it.
It assumes a holistic understanding of the individuals as social actors living, influencing and being influenced by a complex and unstable environment.
This is a first version, based on observations and psychosocial work of international and national professionals in the Somali context (mainly based on field experiences and training outcomes in Puntland and Somaliland). Formal counselling services are not well or widely established all over Somalia. In such contexts, informal systems of support can be of great value to the patient and are believed to be especially helpful to survivors with limited social support resources as they decrease feelings of isolation, and encourage survivors to share their experiences and establish their own informal support networks (WHO, 2003).
The training handbook can be used as a main source going through session by session. Trainers may also decide to work with some sessions and not others, or they decide to combine aspects of the session with other training materials as is felt more appropriate to the context. Sessions or Modules can be adapted, modified and changed to suit either the levels of the participants or a particular context. Therefore, it is highly recommended that trainer has certain information about the participants (level of education, gender, and previous training experience) prior to the training. It is understood that any theoretical training (class training) to be effective and of practical use for participants, should be followed by on-thejob training methodologies in real settings.
The handbook is structured in a way that key concepts are illustrated with stories, games and exercises. Most of the materials can be adapted and used in different ways to make learning enjoyable and accessible to participants with varying of education level. The case studies and stories have been adapted and changed to portray what happens to clients in real life. There are some stories that are based on myths and popular stories from Somali cultures. There are a number of discussion and questions at the end of the case studies and stories.