GCI counseling aims at assisting victims of human rights abuses to become mentally prepared and empowered to face the challenges of abuses.Counseling is a complementary aspect of our legal Assistance Programme. Activities include legal and psychosocial counseling, client registration, and performing needs and psychological assessments.

Focus of work

• Counseling: Individual and group counseling as well as guidance. Counseling communities on low level dispute management and on the elimination of jungle justice.
• Psychological testing: Psychological testing to help in diagnosis, understanding the problem, and to helping in designing interventions,
• Social service provision: Conducting prison visits to help assess prisoners' needs and network with partner organisations to ensure that prisoners receive the basics they need, which include temporary drugs, food, water and access to health facilities.
• Education and training: Educating target groups on human rights, governance, anti-corruption, mediation and environmental and health rights.

Achievements or impact of work

• Improvement in coping attitudes: Kumba prisoners are more positive towards life and hold more realistic expectations of their fate.
• Improving mental health: the access to counseling professionals has led to improved mental health amongst prisoners.
• Established functional referral system: a network of various professionals and institutions to whom we make referrals.
• Reduced cases of mob killings in communities
• Increased volume of low level disputes at community levels and more confidence in mediation structures.

Long-term goals

While resources may be limited, the counselling section hopes to expand into a full department in its own right to provide dedicated and effective mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers. Other targets include:

• Establishment of self-reliant community-based structures for psychosocial service provision for our target groups.
• To carry out research on prevalence of mental health disorders among refugee, asylum seeker and IDP populations.
• Expansion of activities to include internally displaced persons.

 

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