Gaza Community Mental Health Program 2019-2021 Gaza Community Mental Health Program 2019-2021 The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) is a long-term partner to Sweden and was established in 1990 as a recognized non-governmental organization that provides specialized mental health services in Gaza. GCMHP focuses on offering community mental health services and is a resource for other community based organizations (CBOs) in Gaza, the Ministry of Health, and UNRWA. GCMHP's mission is: 'guided by the principles of justice and human rights, GCMHP provides inclusive, integrated, and specialized community mental health services in Palestine.'

Sweden has supported GCMHP's previous strategic period 2014-2018 along with the Norwegian Representative Office and the Swiss Development Cooperation. The focus of the 2014-2018 strategic period was on strengthening the organizational structure of GCMHP to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the mental health services delivered.

The focus for GCMHP in the upcoming strategic period 2019-2021 is to contribute to improve the mental wellbeing of the population in the Gaza Strip through providing access to specialized mental health services; having emergency response mechanisms in place to provide first aid psychological interventions, counselling, and referrals to those impacted by trauma; continuing to expand the pool of mental health professionals in Gaza through building the capacity of health care professionals; support  the capacity of relevant organizations to provide basic care, non-specialized support, and an effective referral system; and focusing on action-oriented research.

The intervention entails Sweden's contribution to GCMHP's core budget to work towards the following three strategic goals: 1. contribute to improving the mental health situation of the population in the Gaza Strip; 2. support the capacity of professionals and other actors to provide appropriate focused care; and 3. strengthen GCMHP's leadership role through implementing model procedures, protocols, and research. Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP) är en långsiktig partner till Sverige och grundades 1990 som en allmänt erkänd icke-statlig organisation som tillhandahåller specialiserade psykiatriska tjänster i Gaza. GCMHP fokuserar på att erbjuda hälsovårdstjänster och är en resurs för andra civilsamhällesorganisationer (CBO) i Gaza, hälsoministeriet och UNRWA. GCMHP: s uppdrag är: "Styrd av principerna om rättvisa och mänskliga rättigheter ger GCMHP inkluderande, integrerad och specialiserad samhällshälsovård i Palestina."

Sverige har stött GCMHP:s tidigare strategiperiod 2014-2018 tillsammans med Norge och Schweiz. Fokus för strategiperioden 2014-2018 var att stärka GCMHP: s organisationsstruktur för att förbättra förutsättningama för måluppfyllelse och effektiviteten i genomförandet av de mentala tjänster som levereras.

Fokus för GCMHP under den kommande strategiperioden 2019-2021 är att bidra till att förbättra befolkningens mentala välbefinnande i Gazaremsan genom att ge tillgång till specialiserade psykiatriska tjänster; ha mekanismer på plats för att ge snabb psykologiska assistans, rådgivning och hänvisningar till de som påverkas av trauma; fortsätta att expandera poolen av psykiatriska experter i Gaza genom att bygga upp kapaciteten hos vårdpersonal; Stödja relevanta organisationers kapacitet att tillhandahålla grundläggande vård, icke-specialiserat stöd och ett effektivt hänvisningssystem och fokusera på praktisk forskning.

Åtgärden innebär att Sveriges bidrag till GCMHP: s kärnbudget ska verka för följande tre strategiska mål: 1. Bidra till att förbättra befolkningens psykiska hälsa i Gazaremsan. 2. Stödja personal och andra aktörer att tillhandahålla lämplig fokuserad vård. och 3. stärka GCMHP: s ledarroll genom att utarbeta procedurer för genomförande av dessa aktiviteter, protokoll och forskning. Sweden plans to provide core support to GCMHP to fund its Strategic Plan for 2019-2021 with the following mission: 'Guided by the principles of justice and human rights, GCMHP provides inclusive, integrated, and specialized community mental health services in Palestine.' GCMHP has set the following three strategic objectives to achieve its mission: (1) to contribute to improving the mental health situation of the population in the Gaza Strip and activating the rapid response mechanism in case of emergency; (2) to support the capacity of professionals and other actors to provide appropriate focused care through academic and professional programs; (3) to strengthen GCMHP's leadership role through implementing model procedures, protocols, and research. 

GCMHP throughout its various interventions and quality services aims at improving the psychological wellbeing and coping and resilience of its different target groups. Under the first strategic objective, the target groups are: indirect victims of human rights violations and traumatic events, children and youth under eighteen years old suffering from mental and psychological disorders, individuals suffering from chronic psychiatric and pervasive development disorders. Under the second strategic objective, the target group is: CBOs, NGOs, and medical care facilities to strengthen their capacity to provide non-specialized mental health and psychosocial support services, to increase the coverage of available mental health services across Gaza. Building the capacity of organizations through focusing on the third level intervention pyramid for mental health and psychosocial support will allow trainees to be able to take care of basic mental care conditions, which would give GCMHP more room to focus on specialized mental health services.