Introduction

The counseling unit of the Legal and Psychosocial Department (LPD) of Refugee Law Project provides individual counseling to urban refugees and asylum seekers especially in Kampala. However the annual increase in the number of clients in need of counseling is over whelming thus the tendency to refer some of them to other organizations that provide similar services. Evaluating the effectiveness of the referral system presents challenges. Clients often do not go for follow- up appointments because the organizations they are referred to are far from their places of residence. Additionally high transport costs make clients lose interest in subsequent sessions.

Therefore, to meet the needs of the clients, the LPD considers it fit to train peer counselors among the refugee communities and other interested parties that interact with refugees in urban areas and in refugee settlement. Some of the refugee groups that the unit works with already do some form of rudimentary counseling for clients with an ad-hoc referral system. It is hoped that giving them basic counseling skills will enhance and add value to their work such that only cases beyond their capacity would then be brought to the units notice for further management.

The trained peer counselors will have a monthly meeting with the staff of the unit where they can share their experiences and challenges. It is also through these meetings that they can be helped to deal with secondary trauma that they may be suffering from as a result of the work they do with the clients in their own communities.

The training will run for five days, attracting 50 participants including church leaders, elders, youth and leaders of refugee groups.

Justification for Psychosocial Counseling Training

• There is a huge case load of refugees and asylum seekers who suffer various mental health problems such as stress, depression and trauma due to past war experiences and are in dire need of psychosocial support, trauma counseling and stress management

• Currently, most service providers focus more on the psychiatric aspect dependant on medication without a psychosocial component. The emphasis on medication is symptomatic and does not touch on the root causes of the mental health problems which can only be addressed through the employment of both therapies The most vulnerable refugee and asylum population is composed of children. There are currently no psychosocial services that target children in terms of assessment diagnosis and treatment. There are no psychosocial and counseling education programs in urban areas specifically for refugees and asylum seekers. Most patients therefore access treatment when the condition is adverse and recovery is near impossible.

Training content

The training will address the following major areas:

• Overview of the refugee situation in Uganda

• Psychological and physical effects of violence on forced migrants

• Identification of psychosocial needs of a community

• Introduction to counseling

• The role of psychosocial support and counseling in post conflict communities

• Basic counseling skills

  1. Effective management of trauma
  2. Managing children
  3. Handling domestic violence
  4. HIV Aids counseling
  5. Managing terminal ailments
  6. Managing change

• Peace building and developing non violent mechanisms of conflict management

• Effective communication skills

• The power of positive thinking and harnessing the untapped resource

In this information session, officers from the Legal and Psychosocial Department of the Refugee Law Project will sensitize refugees and asylum seekers on matters of sexuality, sexual exploitation and abuse. Towards the end of the year 2011, it was discovered that there is a significant increase in cases of sexual exploitation and abuse of refugee girls and young women. In some cases, these young women and girls are hired for work and end up being sexually exploited and abused. This has resulted into a number of unintended pregnancies. The information session is therefore intended to equip them with information and knowledge so as to be able to deal with this challenge.

On 26 August 2011, RLP awarded certificates to 167 refugees who had successfully completed the English for Adults (EFA) programme. At the same function, 32 immigration officers and 98 police officers were also awarded certificates in Refugee Law and Human Rights. Find details on this page....

The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of the Uganda Police Force to better manage migration.

To educate forced migrants in different host communities on the mandate of RLP, crime prevention, and how to access different services

To discuss challenges, share experiences and look for ways for improved coordination in dealing with migration issues.

The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of the Uganda Police Force to better manage migration.

The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of the Uganda Police Force to better manage migration.

To educate forced migrants in different host communities on the mandate of RLP, crime prevention, and how to access different services

The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of the Uganda Police Force to better manage migration.

To educate forced migrants in different host communities on the mandate of RLP, crime prevention, and how to access different services

The overall objective of this training is to build the capacity of the Uganda Police Force to better manage migration.