AFESIP Cambodia and Health and Human Rights Info (HHRI) have co-organized a training workshop on Mental Health and Gender-based violence, taken place from 25 to 27 February 2014 in Phnom Penh. AFESIP Cambodia has invited a number of NGO partners to join the workshop, such as Transcultural Project Organization (TPO), Cambodia ACTs, Cambodian Women Development Association (CWDA), Cambodia Women Crisis Center (CWCC), Banteay Srei, Chhouk Sar Association, SISHA and SKK ( Sangkrous Komar Kampuchea) and AFESIP staff members totalizing 31 trainees. The training workshop is funded by HHRI and trained by HHRI trainers namely Dr. Nora Sveaass and Ms. Helen Christie, Clinical Psychologists and Ms. Doris Drews, Psychologist.

Mr. Sao Chhoeurth delivers a speech about AFESIP activities and welcomes Norwegian guests.

This training workshop is aimed to share information about the relationship between human rights violations and mental health in war and conflict areas, by gathering NGO staff members who are working directly with gender based violence survivors, having knowledge about mental health, understanding of trauma and trauma reactions to be able to give the survivors better understanding of own reactions, to provide assistance to humanitarian actors, health workers and other professionals/semi-professionals to respond effectively toward persons exposed to sexual violence/gender-based violence (GBV) and other forms of trauma in the context of emergency situations, displacement, and armed conflicts.

To open the session, Mr. Sao Chhoeurth, AFESIP Cambodia’s Executive Director & CEO stressed the activities actively carried out to combat human trafficking for sex slavery, helping rape victims and domestic violence.

It is to note that HHRI is a Norwegian small human rights organization, having already conducted pilots in Colombia, Congo and Turkey, in cooperation with Human rights Foundation, Turkey; LIMPAL Colombia, (WILP Women's International League for Peace and Freedom) in the spring of 2013.