Heartbeat of Humanity

Responders, representing relevant authorities and humanitarian actors, rely on online communication during and after disasters and emergencies - both as a tool to reach exposed populations, to organize and coordinate responses and to mobilize resources. However, disasters and emergencies also spark more problematic online attention and reactions including the targeting of marginalized populations....

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity , host Ahlem Cheffi is joined from Damascus by Dr. Faiza Alabdullah, Head of Psychosocial Support, Protection, and Community Services at the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC). Together, they explore how community-based psychosocial support and protection are implemented during emergencies in Syria, why this approach is critical in a protracted crisis and how...

Dans cet épisode de Heartbeat of Humanity , le podcast du Mouvement Croix-Rouge Croissant-Rouge dédié à la santé mentale et au soutien psychosocial (SMSPS), nous explorons le contexte de crises et de conflits au Niger et leurs impacts psychosociaux sur les communautés affectées, y compris les personnes déplacées, migrantes et réfugiées. L’épisode met en lumière l’intégration de la SMSPS dans la ré...

Dans cet épisode du podcast Heartbeat of Humanity , Ahlem Cheffi, spécialiste SMSPS du Centre du Mouvement de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge pour la Santé Mentale et le Soutien Psychosocial, échange avec le Dr Fabrice Ouédraogo et Yahaya Diallo (Croix-Rouge burkinabè), ainsi qu’avec Hema Lacina (Croix-Rouge danoise). Cet épisode a été enregistré au Burkina Faso lors de la formation régionale...

This episode focuses on the potential of sports in supporting inclusion and mental health.  Khalida Popal is an award-winning Afghan football pioneer and activist and the founder of the Girl Power organisation.  Khalida joined us for a training in Copenhagen under the Sport Coach+ initiative, implemented in a partnership between the MHPSS Hub and the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF). The initiative...

“Too far, too fast?” In this sixth episode, Sarah Harrison, Director of the MHPSS Hub, and Dan Amias, Senior Innovation Learning Adviser at Elrha, speaks with Mercy Githara, MHPSS Manager at the Kenya Red Cross Society, and Anne de Graaf, Technical Officer at the World Health Organization (WHO) about two chatbots: STARS, a non-AI chatbot developed by WHO, and Chat Care, an AI chatbot being deploye...

Evidence from the Frontline: Mental Health in Crisis Affected Contexts, episode 5: EASE “What matters to young people? Climate, jobs, and mental health.” Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE) is an evidence-based group intervention that helps 10–15-year-olds in adversity-affected communities manage stress, anxiety, and depression through skills training. It includes seven sessions for adoles...

Tackling the complex issue of perinatal mental health.  Thinking Healthy (TH), a brief psychological intervention that can be delivered by trained and supervised community health care workers. It uses simple cognitive behavioral techniques to provide mothers with support and to improve mental health outcomes for the mother and new-born infant. In this fourth episode, Sarah Harrison, Director of th...

On 3 September 2025 the docudrama the Voice of Hind Rajab had its world premiere during the 82nd Venice International Film Festival. The movie directed by Kaouther Ben Hania received 24 minutes of standing ovation and won the Grand Jury Prize. For our colleague Nisreen Qawas, MHPSS director for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the voice of Hind Rajab was the person at the other end of the eme...

When is a transdiagnostic approach the best route to quality mental health care in crisis affected context, and how does it work in practice? In this third episode, Sarah Harrison, Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, talks to three experts with extensive experience with CETA, the Common Elements Treatment Approach System of Care: Dr Laura Murray (Founder, CETA Global; Senior...

Do Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) really improve children’s mental health? Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS) are safe, structured places established quickly in emergencies where children can play, learn, and receive psychosocial support, to promote protection and wellbeing. In this second episode, Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, speaks with Professor Alasta...

How do we adapt an evidence-based mental health intervention for different communities in crisis-affected settings? In this first episode Sarah Harrison, Acting Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, interviews Ken Carswell a Mental health Specialist from WHO and Lidiia Kasianchuk a psychologist from Ukraine with experience of implementing SH+.  Together they unpack what practi...

In this short teaser, Acting Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub Sarah Harrison introduces a coming podcast series on the Heartbeat of Humanity channel. The six-episode podcast series is called Evidence from the Frontline – mental health in crisis affected contexts and it is produced in a collaboration between the MHPSS Hub and Elrha - Enhancing Learning and Research for Huma...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, Communications Officer Jesper Guhle interviews MHPSS specialists Cátia Matos and Guleed Dualeh about the first regional MHPSS trainings conducted by the Red Cross Red Crescent MHPSS Hub. These two trainings, one in Kenya and one in Paraguay, mark a paradigm shift for the MHPSS Hub and Cátia and Guleed explains the challenges but also the major advantages o...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, through four interviews, Communications Officer Jesper Guhle explores the MHPSS programmes and services provided by Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies across the African region.  Interviewees: Serah Kalumbilo, Zambia Red Cross Society Ernest P. Nyame Annan, Ghana Red Cross Society Omar Sheikh Mohamud, Somali Red Crescent Society Nathalie Nyamukeba,...

In this episode we will talk about the Sport Coach+ initiative implemented in a partnership between the MHPSS Hub and the Olympic Refuge Foundation (ORF). The initiative aims to create trauma informed and healing centered sports environments for young athletes between the ages of 10 and 24 with a focus on those with a background of displacement. The first phase of the initiative focused on youth a...

This episode of Heartbeat of Humanity is the fourth and last episode in a mini-series about the mental health of children and young adults in the contexts of emergencies or conflict with child and adolescent psychiatrist Brett McDermott. In this episode, MHPSS Adviser Arz Stephan talks to Brett  about who among children  and adolescents - or people in general - need further support following a nat...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, MHPSS Adviser Arz Stephan talks to Brett McDermott about how parents and caregivers can help children get through the first year after a natural hazard. Brett is an Australian child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is head of Tasmania’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and professor at the University of Tasmania.  Brett has led several post-disast...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, MHPSS Adviser Arz Stephan talks to Brett McDermott about how parents and teachers can help children after a natural hazard. Brett is an Australian child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is head of Tasmania’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and professor at the University of Tasmania.  Brett has led several post-disaster programs in Australia to b...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, MHPSS Adviser Arz Stephan talks to Brett McDermott about mental health, natural hazards and children. Brett is an Australian child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is head of Tasmania’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and professor at the University of Tasmania.  Brett has led several post-disaster programs in Australia to better support young pe...

In this episode of Heartbeat of Humanity, Monia Aebersold and Kristofer Vernmark explains the concept and the benefits of digital MHPSS and present the digital MHPSS toolkit availble on the MHPSS Hub website. Monia is the MHPSS Project Manager in charge of psychosocial support services at the Swiss Red Cross with 20 years of experience in the field of displacement and migration. She holds a Master...

In this third and final episode in a podcast series about ‘feeling responsible for the safety of colleagues in a shrinking humanitarian space’ MHPSS Hub, Senior Communication Officer, Villads Zahle interviews Team Lead for the Technical Unit at the MHPSS Hub, Sarah Harrison. Almost 300 aid workers were killed in 2024 – the largest number in history. Additionally, more than 220 were wounded and mor...

In this second of three episodes in a series about ‘feeling responsible for the safety of colleagues in a shrinking humanitarian space’ MHPSS Hub, Senior Communication Officer, Villads Zahle interviews former Communication Team lead for a large humanitarian INGO, Iben de Neergaard. Almost 300 aid workers were killed in 2024 – the largest number in history. Additionally, more than 220 were wounded...

In this first of three episodes in a series about 'feeling responsible for the safety of colleagues in a shrinking humanitarian space' MHPSS Hub, Senior Communication Officer, Villads Zahle interviews Danish Red Cross, Senior Security Adviser, Sabina Brimson.  Almost 300 aid workers were killed in 2024 – the largest number in history. Additionally, more than 220 were wounded and more tha...

In this third and final episode of our miniseries on Ambiguous Loss, we dig deep with Roubina Tahmazian from ICRC into the critical yet often overlooked topic of children’s wellbeing in the context of families of the missing. Too often, the needs and emotional wellbeing of children are sidelined as families grapple with the uncertainty and challenges of missing loved ones, with no or very limited...