This is the third episode in a podcast series framed by contributions featured in the International Review of the Red Crosspublished by ICRC focusing on Mental health and armed conflict. This episode takes off from a contribution entitled Strengthening resilience for people affected by violence in international armed conflict: A community-based MHPSS intervention in Armenia co-authored by Sofia Gimenez Molinero, Mher Naghdalyan and Mariam Aghababyan with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Armida Zakharyan from the Armenian Red Cross Society.

The contribution published in the International Review is based on a study of a community-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programme implemented jointly by the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) and the ICRC. The intervention targets border communities and people from Karabakh affected by the 2020 Karabakh conflict and subsequent escalations. At the time of writing, the ICRC and ARCS have reached more than 6,000 individuals in more than 100 communities through the programme.

The study aims to explore how this comprehensive, community-based MHPSS intervention contributes to strengthening the resilience of individuals in the aftermath of the conflict and within a context of recurrent violence.

We invited two of the authors Sofia Gimenez Molinero Former Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Delegate in Armenia and Clinical Psychologist and Mher Naghdalyan Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Programme Responsible to discuss the findings.

This is the second episode in a podcast series framed by contributions featured in the International Review of the Red Cross published by ICRC focusing on Mental health and armed conflict. This episode takes off from a contribution entitled Voices from the front line: Mental health and psychosocial experiences of Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers and staff working in armed conflict contexts authored by Arz Stephan MHPSS Advisor, Ganna Goloktionova MHPSS Advisor, Cátia Sofia Peres de Matos MHPSS Advisorand Shona Whitton MHPSS Technical Team Leadall staff members of the MHPSS Hub.

Together, they conducted a qualitative study of the mental health and psychosocial experiences of Red Cross Red Crescent national volunteers and staff in a dire reality for humanitarians in the frontlines. With 130 active armed conflicts in fifty countries, more than 4 million RCRC volunteers and staff live and work in armed conflict settings; most volunteers and staff work in their own countries, delivering essential humanitarian assistance to their communities. Twenty-seven RCRC volunteers and staff lost their lives in the line of duty in 2025, with additional fatalities occurring off-duty.

Our colleagues work in extreme conditions and constant exposure to suffering often cause long-term psychological consequences, and the mental health and psychosocial impacts occur in a wider context that can lead staff and volunteers to question their fundamental moral values.

We invited one of the authors, Shona Whitton, to help us explore the mental health and psychosocial experiences of national volunteers and staff based on the findings of the study and the actual words of some of our colleagues in the frontlines.

For further information:

Voices from the front line: Mental health and psychosocial experiences of Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers and staff working in armed conflict contexts | International Review of the Red Cross

The ICRC recently released the latest edition of the International Review of the Red Cross focusing on Mental health and armed conflict. The MHPSS Hub is launching a podcast-series in cooperation with ICRC and the authors of some of the key-articles to discuss the findings and insights they offer.

This first introductory episode features a conversation with MHPSS Hub Director, Sarah Harrison and Omar Salih Rasheed, MHPSS Programme Coordinator for ICRC. Sarah and Omar were two members of the jury who selected articles for the review and two of the voices behind the editorial of the review. The introduction is moderated by Shona Whitton, MHPSS Hub Technical Team Lead.

Links
Review of the current evidence base for MHPSS in emergencies