The MHPSS Collaborative

📬 Our latest newsletter is out – with new resources, reflections and an important update about the future of the MHPSS Collaborative. From 1 October, the Collaborative will move to a smaller, project-based operating model as we prepare for independence from Save the Children Denmark. While this means changes to how we work, our mission remains the same: advancing knowledge, collaboration and action to strengthen the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and families facing adversity. In this edition of the newsletter, we also share our new recommendations for donors on sustaining investment in MHPSS through localisation and integration, alongside other recent resources and updates from our work. 👉 Read the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/evgRwXcd Thank you to everyone who continues to work, learn and collaborate with us as we enter this next chapter.

What can international coalitions achieve that individual organisations cannot?  At the World Congress of Psychotherapy 2026, Suzan Song, MD, MPH, PhD, lead consultant on emerging challenges at The MHPSS Collaborative Collaborative , joined colleagues from across the field for the panel Building Bridges, Driving Change: International Coalitions for Global Mental Health Action.  At a time of shrinking global health funding and growing pressure on multilateral cooperation, Suzan highlighted why strong coalitions matter:  ‼️ They can build shared evidence, set priorities and create collective pressure for change where no single organisation has the mandate to do so alone.  ‼️ They can reduce duplication, use evidence more strategically and strengthen the collective voice for MHPSS.  ‼️ Effective partnerships must go beyond coordination and formal agreements. They should also ask who defines the problem, where authority sits and whether collaboration improves outcomes for countries and communities.  Suzan also had a clear message for the clinicians and psychotherapists in the room: advocacy does not have to mean becoming a policy advocate. Clinicians already influence systems through their practice, professional communities and everyday decisions.  As the global health landscape changes, stronger collaboration across organisations, networks and professions will be essential.  With United for Global Mental Health, The City University of New York, MHPSS.net (Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network) and Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN)

NEW PAPER: https://lnkd.in/eu3JzZzE Humanitarian funding is contracting sharply—while the need for mental health and psychosocial support continues to grow. We are pleased to share Sustaining Investment in MHPSS Localisation and Integration: Recommendations for Donors, a new paper examining what funders can do to protect MHPSS and make their investments more locally led, integrated and sustainable. The paper focuses on two commitments that are increasingly important in the current funding crisis: • Localisation must shift power—not only implementation. Local and national actors need meaningful influence over priorities, resources and decisions, supported by flexible, multi-year funding that covers the real costs of their work. • Integration must strengthen the whole system of care. Embedding MHPSS within health, education, protection, livelihoods and other services can improve access and outcomes—but it requires dedicated resources, supported workers, effective referral pathways and continued investment in focused and specialised care. Drawing on published and grey literature, interviews, case studies and a co-creation workshop with funders and implementers, the paper translates these principles into practical recommendations and questions for funding decisions. The choices donors make now will help determine whether MHPSS systems emerge from the current contraction weaker and more fragmented or more equitable, locally led and sustainable. Developed by The MHPSS Collaborative, Peace of Mind Foundation, Save the Children Nederland, The George Washington University, Global Mental Health Action Network (GMHAN), Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN), MHPSS.net (Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network), Terre des hommes foundation and UNICEF.

New learning from Balochistan: what can arts-based mental health and psychosocial support offer childrenaffected by conflict and displacement? Since 2023, the Youth Association for Development (YAD), with support from Peace of Mind Foundation, has been delivering an arts-based MHPSS programme for Afghan refugee and host-community children in Quetta, Pakistan. Through dedicated Healing Rooms in partner schools, children take part in a structured programme combining art, music, play, storytelling, group reflection and trauma-informed facilitation. The findings in the evaluation of the programme’s third cohort suggest that arts-based approaches can offer children much more than an enjoyable activity. When delivered in a psychologically safe environment, creative expression can become a practical pathway for emotional expression, regulation, connection and confidence. In a survey of 135 children, average psychosocial wellbeing scores increased across all five measured domains, including emotional regulation, safety and adaptability, school support, family support, and hope and wellbeing. Children, caregivers and teachers described how the arts-based activities helped children talking more openly about their feelings, managing anger and anxiety differently, participating more confidently in school, connecting with peers and expressing greater hope for their futures. Read the full learning brief including recommendations for organisations designing arts-based MHPSS programmes: https://lnkd.in/eX8Rm8cQ Evaluation commissioned by Peace of Mind Foundation , implemented in partnership with Youth Association for Development (YAD Pakistan), and conducted by The MHPSS Collaborative. #MHPSS #MentalHealth #PsychosocialSupport #ChildWellbeing #ArtsBasedMHPSS #HumanitarianResponse #EducationInEmergencies #RefugeeResponse #Balochistan #Pakistan 

The Oslo Open Pledge 2026 is now published. At the 3rd Nordic Conference on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Oslo, we came together around a shared ambition: to move from response to resilience and strengthen mental health and psychosocial wellbeing before, during and after emergencies. The resulting Oslo Open Pledge sets out recommendations for Nordic actors across five priority areas: ‼️ From response to resilience: commit to long-term, flexible and diversified funding, strengthen country systems, and shift resources and decision-making power closer to affected communities.  ‼️ Climate & Nature: integrate MHPSS into climate action, disaster risk reduction, anticipatory action and preparedness — with affected communities shaping the response.  ‼️ Children & Education: strengthen community-based systems around children by investing in caregivers, teachers, frontline workers and meaningful child and youth participation.  ‼️ Innovation: move beyond short-term pilots towards locally led, evidence-informed, safe and ethical approaches with clear pathways to scale and system integration.  ‼️ Youth leadership: shift power and resources to young people and locally led youth initiatives, recognising meaningful participation as an essential part of effective crisis response. These priorities reflect a clear message emerging throughout the conference process: MHPSS cannot remain a short-term, stand-alone response. It needs sustained investment, local leadership and integration across health, education, protection, climate and disaster preparedness systems. The Pledge is non-binding, but it is intended to be practical: a common framework that Nordic governments, donors, civil society, researchers, practitioners, UN actors and youth networks can use for action, advocacy, collaboration and accountability. Now the work is to turn the pledge into practice. 👉 Read the Oslo Open Pledge 2026: https://lnkd.in/ej2at-Fc 

‼️ This is exciting news ‼️ Intervention Journal and MHPSS.net (Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network) are announcing a new Special Issue on Critical MHPSS. The MHPSS field is not exempt from power politics. It is shaped by how we choose to intervene in crisis, who is represented and participating in decision making and research agendas. The Special Issue on Critical MHPSS will reflect on how we can better understand the assumption, structures, shared histories and corresponding power dynamics that influence our work and what is means for practice, research and policy. 👇 See more details in the post below.

Recording available! In case you weren't able to join us at the 2026 Annual Meeting for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, you can now watch the recording here: https://lnkd.in/e-kUEg6A

🌍Join us today at the 2026 Annual Meeting for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action on “Child Protection in a Resource-Constrained World: From Challenges in Financing to Innovative Solutions”!   Deepali Pavagadhi will be speaking at a session on Integrating, localising and sustaining quality MHPSS in humanitarian settings with maria Bray, Terre des hommes foundation and Anas Beliah, Athar Association for Youth Development. Their presentation will focus on how transfer of power, decision-making and leadership are central to MHPSS localisation. They will provide an analysis of what shapes power dynamics in MHPSS and how power hierarchies affect MHPSS funding, practice, and evidence base today. The session will also include a video developed by Athar, a CBO based in Jordan, to share their experience with localisation and collaboration with international actors.    The talk draws from a background paper on “Transforming Power Dynamics in MHPSS Localization” published by Terres des Hommes, and a project lead by the MHPSS Collaborative, called Localizing and integrating MHPSS in emergencies: Recommendations for funders, devoloping a concise, evidence-informed brief for any actor that allocates MHPSS-related humanitarian funding.     🔗 Read the paper here:  https://lnkd.in/e_uKWy7b    🔗 Learn more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/euT8qv9u    📅 Join us for the whole event and make sure to catch this talk on Thursday 11 June at 09:30 (CEST)    🔗 Find all the information on registration, the agenda, and participant materials here: https://lnkd.in/gbz_HfH5   #AM2026 #ChildProtection #FundingCrisis #InnovativeSolutions #CollectiveAction #CPHA  

THANK YOU!   It’s been a few days since the 3rd Nordic Conference on MHPSS in Oslo, and we are still processing all the inspiring and insightful presentations, panels breakouts and conversations in between.  This conference happened because dedicated people and organisations across the Nordic Network for MHPSS, led by the Norwegian Network for Global Mental Health came together and worked hard for more than a year to make this happen in a true spirit of collaboration. We feel privileged to have been part of this endeavour.   Thank you all the organizers for all their hard work, thank you to all the presenters and speakers for sharing their insights, thank you to OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University for hosting us, thank you to the sponsors, Norad - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, The Kavli Foundation, Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Caritas Sweden for making this possible and thank you to all participants for contributing to an atmosphere of dialogue, curiosity and networking. We will share the Oslo Open Pledge later this month. In the meantime, enjoy a few snapshots of our highlights from the conference.