11 Aug 2021

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, public health concerns are also growing. Among most urgent concerns is the psycho-social state of children and young women. Principal Social Worker in the Department of Social Protection Services Ms Malebogo Modiakgotla said this when Briefing the media yesterday, on preparations for the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Forum scheduled for Chobe next month.

Ms Modiakgotla said COVID-19 had presented challenges that would likely overstretch resources set aside for children and young women’s welfare, and thus weaken existing social safety nets. She said as such it was important to integrate psycho-social support into national response systems. That would further require capacitation of mental health and psychosocial programmes.

Where possible communities should be empowered to provide mental health and psychosocial support to people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Giving further update on the scheduled forum, Ms Modiakgotla said it would target various stakeholders who provided psycho-social support services to different groups such as children, youth, families and the workers.

She said already there were increasing reports of gender-based violence and violence against children during lockdowns. She noted such incidents of abuse, violence, neglect and exploitation, would leave lasting and nasty long-term psychosocial and mental health effects, hence the need to have supportive programmes in place. Ms Modiakgotla said to mitigate the unfolding situation the government had developed laws, policies and regulations to guide delivery and mobilised resources to provide social protection, care and support to the affected.

One of the forum stakeholders, Mr David Kanje from REPSSI Botswana, a mental health support group, said since 2011 his organisation had held five regional psychosocial support forums, which created opportunities for policy makers, researchers, youth, practitioners and representatives to share evidence, best practices and develop new solutions to influence policy formulation. He said such forums created dialogue that would lead to integration of mental health and psycho-social programmes into policy.

Mr Kanje added that COVID-19 had hit a lot of families and it was a threat to the wellbeing of children as breadwinners succumbed to the disease. This, he said raised the spectre of an unprecedented number of orphans, and the system must be ready to provide them with the necessary support This year’s national Mental Health and Psychosocial Forum, will be preceded by two zonal forums in Mahalapye and Ghanzi in August. It will be held under the theme: Innovate, Integrate, Thrive. ends