Mission and Strategy

Home / Who we are / Mission and Strategy

Mission & Strategy

The IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support (PS Centre) works under the framework of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), and supports all National Societies in promoting and enabling the psychosocial well-being of beneficiaries, staff and volunteers.

The overall objective of the IFRC Psychosocial Support Programme is to assist the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to:

Create awareness regarding psychosocial reactions at a time of disaster or long-term social disruption.

Set up and improve preparedness and response mechanisms at global, regional and local levels.

Promote the resilience and thereby the rehabilitation of individuals
and communities.

Restore
community networks
and coping mechanisms.

Enhance emotional assistance
to staff and volunteers.

Facilitate psychosocial support before,
during and after disasters.

This mandate is implemented within the framework of the Strategical Operational Framework 2023 and the policy framework of the IFRC. Furthermore, as part of the IFRC, the PS Centre is guided by the seven fundamental principles and relevant policies and works towards the achievement of Strategy 2023 and the three strategic aims outlined within it. Accordingly, the PS Centre will work to:

Enable National Societies to understand, respond and utilize evidence based practice in meeting the psychosocial needs of vulnerable groups. Additionally, the provision of technical support, including assessment, training, support, monitoring and evaluation is key to integrating psychosocial care in (a) disaster preparedness and response (b) complex emergencies and refugee situations, (c) areas of community health, social welfare and youth.

PS Centre Strategical Operational Framework 2023
Download

The 2023 Strategic Operational Framework (SOF) for the IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support (IFRC PS Centre) presents the strategic operational priorities of the IFRC PS Centre in 2023. It builds on the Centre’s previous SOFs as well as on IFRC’s Global Plan 2023.

The work of the PS Centre in 2023 will continue to take place in the context of major and complex humanitarian crises and challenges. The Ukraine crisis and its implications, the food crisis in East Africa, poverty, climaterelated events and inadequate health care, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, disasters, and armed conflicts as well as high inflation rates will have direct and indirect impacts on people’s health. The SOF 2023 therefore describes global challenges the PS Centre faces and sets out approaches to priority areas and actions to be taken to achieve the goals in 2023.

The strategic priorities for the PS Centre’s work in 2023 outlined in this publication should always be seen in a global context considering the many complex challenges that sometimes go hand in hand, especially as the public’s attention is often involuntarily focused on certain crisis developments and events.

The SOF 2023 describes the PS Centre’s global work, serving both as a compass and a guide regarding the Centre’s global work to assist the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement to scale up and strengthen the quality of mental health and psychosocial support. In 2023 the PS Centre will strive to maintain and increase its targeted global influence on MHPSS policy work through a proactive and structured approach towards policy events and decision-making processes. At the same time, the 2023 SOF reflects the focus of the IFRC PS Centre, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement more broadly, on the implementation of the Movement’s MHPSS Policy1 on Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs of People Affected by Armed Conflicts, Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies that was adopted at the 33rd International Conference in December 2019.

History

The International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies Psychological Support Programme emerged in the early 1990s at a time when an increasing number of National Societies realized that disasters can lead to not just physical but also mental issues in affected populations, and that the traditional way of offering relief in the form of shelter, food and medical care was often not enough.

As a result, the Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support (PS Centre) was established in 1993 as a “Centre of Excellence” to support National Societies in promoting and enabling the psychosocial well-being of beneficiaries, staff and volunteers. Hosted by Danish Red Cross and located in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Centre is a delegated function of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

PS Centre timeline: From trauma to resilience

1

1991

The IFRC launches the Psychological Support Programme as a cross-cutting programme under the Health & Care Division.

2

1993

The International Federation Reference Centre for Psychological Support is established.

3

Mid 1990s

Dissatisfaction with the traditional trauma-focused mental health interventions implemented in the aftermath of disasters and conflicts is growing. Along with this, the articulation of many alternative approaches to psychosocial intervention emerges with the acknowledgement of people’s capacity for resilience.

4

2003

The International Federation Psychological Support Policy Paper establishes the basis of Red Cross and Red Crescent intervention both in emergency response operations and in the implementation of long-term development programmes.

5

2004

The Centre changes its name to the Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support, underlining the community-based character of the interventions.

7

2019

A joint Movement policy and a resolution on addressing mental health and psychosocial needs of people affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters and other emergencies were adopted in December 2019.