BASIC POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR

MHPSS STRUCTURE

Department of Health, Philippines

 LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Articulate the core principles of the IASC

Guidelines on MHPSS and the NDRRMC
National Guidelines on MHPSS.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Frameworks of MHPSS

• Inter Agency Standing Committee and NDRRMC Memorandum

62 series of 2017
• Sendai Framework
• RA 10121 a.k.a Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Act of 2010
• National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan
• RA 10821 a.k.a. Children’s Emergency Relief and Protection
Act

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines

What is IASC?
The Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC) is created by UN in
1992, longest and highest level
humanitarian forum in the world that
ensures coherence of preparedness
and response efforts, formulates
policy and agrees on priorities for a
strengthened humanitarian actions.

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines

What is IASC on MHPSS?

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines on Mental
Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) helps to plan,
establish, and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral
responses to protect, support and improve people’s mental
health and psychosocial wellbeing in the midst of an
emergency.

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines

Context on MHPSS
Populations affected by emergencies frequently experience enormous
suffering.
Though a lot of work has been done to address this, a significant gap
has been the absence of a multi-sectoral, inter-agency framework that
enables effective coordination, identifies useful practices, flags
potentially harmful practices and clarifies how different approaches to
MHPSS complement one another. WHO thus initiated the development
of the IASC Guidelines to fill the said gap.

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines

CORE IDEA
In the early phase of an emergency,
social supports are essential to protect
and support mental health and
psychosocial well-being. Also, selected
psychological and psychiatric
interventions for specific problems if
need be.

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines
Areas Covered by the Guidelines
Specific action sheets provided by the Guidelines cover the
following areas:
● Coordination
● Assessment
● Monitoring and Evaluation
● Protection and Human Rights Standards
● Human Resources

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines

Areas Covered by the Guidelines

● Community Mobilization and Support
● Health Services
● Education
● Dissemination of Information
● Food Security and Nutrition
● Shelter and Site Planning
● Water and Sanitation

Department of Health, Philippines

 IASC Guidelines
Core principles
Human rights and equity

Participation

Do no harm (Non Maleficence)

Building on available resources and capacities

Integrated support systems

Multi-layered supports

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
1. Affirms human rights and equity.
The provision of MHPSS must promote
the human rights of all affected persons
and protect individuals and groups who
are at a heightened risk of human
rights violations and discrimination
across gender, age groups, religious
beliefs, and ethnicity according to
identified needs.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in MHPSS

2. Emphasizes the principle of

doing no harm. Humanitarian aid can
also cause unintentional harm and it is
most important that services in
emergency situations do not pose any
kind of danger to the survivor’s well-
being.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
3. Ensures participation. In most
emergency situations, a significant
number of people exhibit sufficient
resilience to participate in relief and
reconstruction efforts. Maximizing the
participation of the affected
population allows them to regain their
sense of ownership and agency.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in
MHPSS
4. Provides multi-layered support.
People are affected in different ways
and require different kinds of support
during emergencies. There must be a
layered system of complementary
support that meets the needs of
different groups.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in MHPSS

5. Promotes integrated
support system. Programs
and activities must be
integrated as much as possible
in order to avoid creating a
highly fragmented care system.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
6. Culturally sensitive and
appropriate. Programs and activities
that are culturally appropriate and
mindful of gender, age, and religious
beliefs result in effective, creative,
and innovative approaches to
providing MHPSS in emergencies.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
7. Promotes well-being
or ginhawa of survivors/
victims/workers. Ginhawa
is synonymous to the
concept of overall well-
being.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in
MHPSS
8. Resilience- and strength-based. Resilience
is the remarkable capacity of individuals to
withstand and overcome challenges of all kinds
and bounce back stronger and wiser in the face
of great adversity. Strength-based approaches
recognize the affected people’s availability of
inner strength to cope with challenges. This
helps affected communities move from being
victims to become survivors and help them
identify resources they have to facilitate their
own recovery.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
9. Affirms the significance of
spirituality in the recovery
process. MHPSS recognizes the
spiritual nature of the different
people and affirms/supports ways
by which spirituality (e.g. prayers,
faith, hope, etc) promotes recovery
and ginhawa.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in MHPSS

10. Promotes collaboration and

partnership. Efforts towards bringing
MHPSS in emergency and disaster
situations must put premium value on
collaboration and partnership among
agencies and with the community, as
deemed suitable and effective, based on
previous experience or current practice.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
11. Promotes transparency and
accountability. MHPSS service
providers and community partners
must be accountable for the
provision of effective and ethical
services and efficient use of
resources at all phases of
humanitarian work.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in
MHPSS
12. Builds on available resources and
capacities. Services at all stages of
emergency must build local capacities,
promote self-sufficiency, self-help, and
bayanihan, and strengthen the
resources already present in order to
improve the survivors; lives beyond their
condition prior to the disaster.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
13. Adheres and maintains professional
and ethical standards. Adherence to and
maintenance of professional and ethical
standards by MHPSS service providers
encourages sustained cooperation from
the community across time and disaster
situations and contributes to the overall
effectiveness of programs.

Department of Health, Philippines

 Basic Principles Governing Good Practices in
MHPSS
14. Ensures stability and
sustainability. MHPSS must
never be donor-driven and
donor-dependent but must
demonstrate stability across
time even in the absence of
external support.

Department of Health, Philippines

Basic Principles Governing Good Practices
in MHPSS
15. Ensures the welfare of
service providers.
Organizations and institutions
must ensure the safety and
overall well-being of service
providers from pre-deployment,
deployment to post-deployment
phases.

Department of Health, Philippines

 SENDAI FRAMEWORK
What is the Sendai Framework
A 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the
State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility
should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the
private sector and other stakeholders. It aims for the following outcome:
The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives,
livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural
and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and
countries.

Department of Health, Philippines

 SENDAI FRAMEWORK

What is the Sendai Framework

It is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-
2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.
It is the outcome of stakeholder consultations initiated in March 2012 and inter-
governmental negotiations held from July 2014 to March 2015; It was
subsequently adopted by UN Member States on 18 March 2015 at the Third UN
World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture,
Japan.

Department of Health, Philippines

 FOUR PRIORITIES OF ACTION

Priority 1. Understanding disaster risk

Disaster risk management should be based on an
understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of
vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets,
hazard characteristics and the environment. Such
knowledge can be used for risk assessment, prevention,
mitigation, preparedness and response.

Department of Health, Philippines

 FOUR PRIORITIES OF ACTION

Priority 2. Strengthening disaster risk

governance to manage disaster risk
Disaster risk governance at the national, regional and global
levels is very important for prevention, mitigation,
preparedness, response, recovery, and rehabilitation. It fosters
collaboration and partnership.

Department of Health, Philippines

 FOUR PRIORITIES OF ACTION

Priority 3. Investing in disaster risk

reduction for resilience
Public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and
reduction through structural and non-structural measures are
essential to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural
resilience of persons, communities, countries and their assets,
as well as the environment.

Department of Health, Philippines

 FOUR PRIORITIES OF ACTION

Priority 4. Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective

response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery,
rehabilitation and reconstruction
The growth of disaster risk means there is a need to strengthen disaster
preparedness for response, take action in anticipation of events, and ensure
capacities are in place for effective response and recovery at all levels. The
recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction phase is a critical opportunity to build
back better, including through integrating disaster risk reduction into development
measures.

Department of Health, Philippines

 RA 10121. Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Act of
2010
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 What is RA 10121?
Known as “An Act Strengthening the Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System,
Providing for the National Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Framework and Institutionalizing
the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Plan, Appropriating Funds Therefor
and for other Purposes.”

Department of Health, Philippines

 This law repealed Presidential Decree
No. 1566 enacted in 1978 and
transformed the Philippines’ disaster
management system from disaster
relief and response towards disaster
risk reduction (DRR).

Department of Health, Philippines

 RA 10121
PD 1566 RA 10121

Department of Health, Philippines

 RA 10121

Department of Health, Philippines

 National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Plan (NDRRMP)

What is the NDRRMP?

It is the document formulated and implemented by the National DRRM Council
through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) that sets out goals and specific
objectives for reducing disaster risks together with related actions to
accomplish these objectives.

Department of Health, Philippines

Department of Health, Philippines
 NDRRMP: 4 Thematic Ares

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation

Reduce vulnerability and exposure of communities to all hazards; enhance capacities of
communities to reduce their own risks and cope with the impacts of all hazards

Disaster Preparedness
Increase the level of awareness of the community to the threats and impacts of all hazards,
risks and vulnerabilities; equip the community with the necessary skills to cope with the
negative impacts of a disaster; increase the capacity of institutions; and develop and
implement comprehensive national and local disaster preparedness policies, plans and
systems

Department of Health, Philippines

 NDRRMP: 4 Thematic Ares

Disaster Response
Decrease the number of preventable deaths and injuries; provide basic subsistence needs
of affected population; immediately restore basic social services

Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery

Restore people’s means of livelihood and continuity of economic activities and business;
restore shelter and other buildings/installation; reconstruct infrastructure and other public
utilities; assist in the physical and psychological rehabilitation of persons who suffered from
the effects of the disaster

Department of Health, Philippines

 MHPSS IN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DISASTER PLAN
Mitigation Phase

• MH Risk
Assessment and
Recovery Phase Management
Preparedness Phase

• Financial/Logistical Support
I S ASTER MHPSS
• Mental health and D Policy development
psychosocial support Plan development
Response Phase Program development
• Research
• Documentation of practices • Health assessments Capability Building
• Health services • Technical Assistance
• Nutrition Partnership building
• Environmental health • Promotion and Advocacy
• Mental health
• Logistics
• Public Health Services
• Hospital Services
Department of Health, Philippines
• Hospital Networking
RPL
• Resource mobilization
 RA 10821. An Act Mandating the
Provision of Emergency Relief and
Protection for Children Before,
During, and After Disasters and
other Emergency Situations.

Department of Health, Philippines

What is RA 10821?
The Country’s national policy to protect the particular
needs of children before, during and after crisis through
the following 8 Action Plans.

Department of Health, Philippines

 8 Action Plans
● A Comprehensive Emergency Program to protect
children and support their immediate recovery.
● Heightened surveillance against child trafficking
and other violence against children in the
aftermath of disasters and calamities.
● A system of restoring civil documents for children
and their families to better access services and
protect against exploitation.

Department of Health, Philippines

 8 Action Plans
● Increased participation of children in disaster risk
reduction (DRR) planning and post-disaster needs
assessments.
● Less disruption of education activities with the
reduced use of schools as evacuation centers and
the proper use of temporary learning spaces.
● Improved care and steps for family tracing and
reunification for unaccompanied and separated
children.

Department of Health, Philippines

 8 Action Plans
● Better data collection and reporting related to the
affected children—to better understand and
respond to their specific needs.
● Child-centered training of all responders for
community/barangay leaders, school personnel
and rescuers.

Department of Health, Philippines

Department of Health, Philippines
Maraming salamat po!