This two-day online conference on the integration of ‘faith’ into Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in humanitarian contexts aimed to overcome disciplinary boundaries and academic-practitioner divides.
It brought together leading experts in the field, who shared the latest research and evidence in the field of ‘faith-sensitive’ MHPSS from around the world.
It was held on September 18/19, 2024 via Zoom and hosted by the Professorship for Spiritual Care, University of Zurich and the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI).
Below you may find the conference program, speaker bios and video recordings of the event.
Conference Program
Day 1: Current research in faith sensitive MHPSS in humanitarian contexts
In response to the varied but potentially significant mental health and psychological needs of individuals and communities during and post-crisis, fields of theory and practice have developed, as well as an increasingly global consensus about best practice, for how to provide MHPSS in humanitarian contexts. In more recent years, aid workers have further begun to consider religious life as a central factor in mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, viewing faith as an important, but often neglected, component of empowering and locally appropriate MHPSS.
However, the evidence-base for faith-sensitive MHPSS remains siloed in separate disciplines, producing relevant work in parallel. To encourage bridging these disciplinary divides, day one’s sessions will bring the growing field of faith-sensitive MHPSS into conversation with two relevant bodies of research and evidence: Spiritual Care and Psychology to find out what researchers and practitioners of faith-sensitive MHPSS can learn from these disciplines and vice versa.
| Time | Topic | Speakers | Recording |
| 2pm CEST (1 pm GMT/8am EST) – 3pm CET (2pm GMT/9am EST) | Keynote: Spiritual First Aid in Humanitarian Crises and learnings from Ukraine | Prof. Jamie Aten (Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian Disaster Leadership, Executive Director of Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Professor of Humanitarian Disaster Leadership, Wheaton College) | Link |
| 3pm CEST (2pm GMT/9am EST) – 4pm CEST (3pm GMT/10am EST) | Panel: In dialogue with Spiritual Care | Rehana Sadiq (Muslim Chaplain, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital), John Blevins (Dir. of the Interfaith Health Program, Emory Univ.), Ron Oliver (System Vice President, Mission & Outreach Norton Healthcare & Past President Association of Professional Chaplains) | Link |
| Break | |||
| 4.30pm CEST (7.30am PST/3.30pm GMT/6pm GMT+3) – 5.30pm CEST (8.30amPST/4:30pm GMT/7pm GMT+3) | Panel: In dialogue with Islamic Psychology | Mohammad Abo Hilal (clinical psychiatrist and founder of Syria Bright Future), Prof. Rania Awad (Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine), Abdulqadeer Butt (cross-cultural psychologist and practitioner of Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy ). | Link |
| 5.30pm CEST (8.30am PST/11.30am EST) – 6.30pm CEST (9.30am PST/12.30pm EST) | Keynote: Reaching the Unreached: Bridging Islam and Science to Treat the Mental Wounds of War | Norah Feeny (Center for Anxiety & Traumatic Stress Univ. of Washington), respondent: Alastair Ager (Dir., Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Prof. of Population and Family Health, Columbia University) | Link (Keynote) Link (response) |
Day 2: Faith in the Field: Faith-sensitive MHPSS in practice
While the evidence base for faith-sensitive MHPSS has been growing, particularly over the last ten years, there has been little engagement with how faith intersects with other potential determining factors for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing such as age (children and adolescents) and gender. Not only can this create significant gaps in understanding, but it can also lead to the unequitable provision of (faith-sensitive) MHPSS. These sessions will bring academics and practitioners working at these intersections together, to understand more about how to provide faith-sensitive MHPSS for all those who seek it.
| Time | Topic | Speakers | Recording |
| 2pm CEST (1pm GMT) – 3pm CEST (2pm GMT) | Panel: Faith-Sensitive MHPSS and Gender in Humanitarian Contexts | Sandra Pertek (Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham and a Lecturer at the Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University), Kathleen Rutledge (Lecturer in MHPSS and Project Design & Management, Institute for Global Health and Development, QMU), Prof. Chris Dolan (Professor in Global Sustainable Development in the School for Cross-faculty Studies at the University of Warwick) | Link |
| 3pm CEST (9am EST/8am GMT-5) – 4pm CEST (8am PST/9am GMT-5) | Keynote: The Dignity of Women and Girls: Gender, Religion and Mental Health in Humanitarian Interventions. | Prof. Azza Karam (Notre Dame University Al-Ansari Center for Religion and Global Affairs, formerly UNFPA) | Link |
| Break | |||
| 4.30pm CEST (10:30am EST/17:30pm GMT+3/7.30am PST) – 5.30am CEST (11:30am EST/18:30pm GMT+3/8.30am PST) | Panel: Faith-Sensitive MHPSS for Children in Humanitarian Context | Ken Limwame (Global SBC Specialist – Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, UNICEF), Maria Lucia Uribe (exec. dir, Arigatou International), Phiona Koyiet (Senior Technical Advisor on MHPSS, World Vision International) | Link |
| 5.30pm CET (8.30am PST) – 6.30pm CET (9.30am PST) | Reflective Session | ||
Speaker biographies
Dr. Alastair Ager
SpeakerProfessor Alastair Ager is the Emeritus Professor of Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and Adjunct Professor with the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University. He is currently chair of the R2HC Advisory Group. From 2017 to 2020 he served as the Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Department for International Development. He has worked as a consultant and researcher across sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, the Middle-East, Europe and North America, with a broad range of agencies including UNICEF, UNHCR, WHO, Save the Children and World Vision.
Abdulqadeer Butt
SpeakerAbdulqadeer Butt, M.Sc. is a Cross-Cultural Psychologist currently pursuing postgraduate psychotherapy training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Bad Salzuflen, Germany. As a certified practitioner of Traditional Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy (TIIP), he integrates this approach into “Al-Mudmin,” a public mental health project offering low-threshold counseling and self-help groups for Muslims in Germany affected by addiction, directly or indirectly.
Dr. Christopher Dolan
SpeakerDr Christopher Dolan is a Professor in Global Sustainable Development in the School for Cross-faculty Studies at the University of Warwick. He works on forced displacement, conflict, sexual violence and gender, as well as data and research methodology. He previously served as Director of the Refugee Law Project in Uganda (2006-2022), where developing Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing Support for refugee and IDP survivors of conflict-related sexual violence was a particular focus.
Dr. John Blevins
SpeakerDr John Blevins is a Research Associate Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He is also Director of the Interfaith Health Program there and has worked as a chaplain to persons with HIV/AIDS in Atlanta and Chicago in the United States.
Dr. Kathleen Rutledge
SpeakerDr Kathleen Rutledge is a lecturer in MHPSS and Project Design & Management at the Institute for Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University. She has also served in humanitarian response and development leadership for almost two decades in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Balkans and Caucasus.
Maria Lucia Uribe Torres
SpeakerMs. Maria Lucia Uribe is the Executive Director of Arigatou International office in Geneva since 2013. She currently heads the strategic implementation and expansion of the Ethics Education for Children Initiative in more than 30 countries, ensuring that values-based education in formal and non-formal settings is integrated in programs to respond to the prevention of violence and the promotion of peace building and interfaith and intercultural learning and collaboration.
Dr. Norah Feeny
SpeakerDr Norah Feeny is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and Director of the PTSD Treatment and Research Program at Case Western Reserve University. She is one of the principal investigators for the Elrha-funded project ‘Islamic Trauma Healing: A scalable, community-based programme for war and refugee trauma.’
Dr. Azza Karam
Keynote speakerAn affiliated Professor with Notre Dame University’s Al-Ansari Center for Religion and Global Affairs, Azza Karam is the founding President and CEO of Lead Integrity. She is a member of the United Nations’ Secretary General High Level Advisory Board on Multilateralism and served as the Secretary General of Religions for Peace and the CEO of the Women’s Learning Partnership. Prior to this, she served at the United Nations for two decades, where she Coordinated the Arab Human Development Reports, co-founded and Chaired the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and pioneered the UN peer to peer “Strategic Learning Exchanges” on ‘Religion, Development and Diplomacy’.
Dr. Jamie Aten
Keynote speakerDr Jamie Aten is a Professor of Humanitarian Disaster Leadership and holds the Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College. He is a disaster psychologist and disaster ministry expert and is the founder and executive director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Disaster Ministry Conference.
Ken Limwame
SpeakerKen Limwame is a Global Social Behaviour Change Specialist for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolecent Health at UNICEF with over a decade of experience working in contexts including Yemen, Malawi, Liberia and Nigeria.
Dr. Mohammad Abo Hilal, M.D.
SpeakerDr. Mohammad Abo Hilal is a Syrian psychiatrist residing in Turkey. He is the founder and mental health and psychosocial support consultant at the Future of Syria organization. He is interested in innovation and scientific research in the field of mental health and works on the cultural adaptation of mental health programs to suit Syrian society. He is also focused on training and empowering local professionals.
Phiona Koyiet
SpeakerPhiona Naserian Koyiet is Senior Technical Advisor for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Global Disaster Management Team at World Vision International. Phiona is a Psychologist, a Mental Health and Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Prevention/Response expert with over 19 years of solid experience in MHPSS and SGBV programming in low-resource settings, fragile and conflict context. She also has 4 years of clinical experience in a hospital and HIV Programming.
Rehanah Sadiq
SpeakerRehanah Sadiq is a long-standing Muslim Chaplain for two National Health Service (NHS) Hospital Trusts in the United Kingdom. She is also a qualified psychotherapist who has been providing counselling in the Muslim community for over 30 years.
Dr. Sandra Pertek
SpeakerDr Sandra Pertek is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Government and School of Social Policy and a Senior Research Fellow at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. She is an interdisciplinary researcher and GBV in forced migration specialist with over a decade of experience in humanitarian and development settings.
Dr. Rania Awaad
SpeakerDr Rania Awaad, M.D. is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well Stanford University’s Affiliate Chaplain. She is also a faculty member of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University.
Dr. Ron Oliver
SpeakerDr Ron Oliver is the System Vice President of Mission & Outreach at Norton Healthcare in the United States. He has been a chaplain, served on the Board of the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky and taught bioethics at Bellarmine University. He is a past President of the Association of Professional Chaplains. Dr Oliver also served on the team that conceptualized the integration of spiritual care into the American Red Cross.