Скачать или смотреть KEETMANSHOOP YOUTH PUSH MENTAL HEALTH AGENDA - nbc

Keetmanshoop youth urge communities to prioritise mental health after attending a recent community dialogue session which was implemented by the European Union (EU) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).

They made these remarks to the news team during an interview.

The community awareness and empowerment project, which started in 2023, was implemented by the EU, KAS, and the Woman Action for Development (WAD).

Stakeholders from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS), the Namibian Police, traditional leaders, and civil society organisations (CSO) attended the one-day dialogue to discuss contributing factors to mental health illness in their communities and explore ways they can work together to help address these challenges.

Participants Kospert Kaffer and Elizabeth Silas shared with the news team their takeaway from the session.

"We are together as CSOs from the region, so all have different interests, but with these workshops we come together and talk about what's on the ground, what we are experiencing, and the best ways we can assist our communities in bettering and, mostly, the aspects we are addressing mostly, and for me, it was to learn if someone from my community speaks to me about a burning issue, how can I keep this person secret? How can I create a space for them to trust me?"

"This programme has been very effective because the topic we are discussing is a burning issue in our town, Keetmanshoop, which is mental health and mental illnesses, and with the rising numbers of suicide, it just makes it relevant to the town, so having this programme and gathering members of the community just to come and hear what the resolution is that we can implement in our communities just to make sure the number of mental illnesses reduces makes it really effective."

According to the ||Kharas regional project officer for the European Union initiative, the project, which started in 2023, will run until September.

Fillipus Elia says the project has been impactful, as they have received positive feedback from many communities and CSOs.

"We have done so many modules with the civil society organisations; we have trained them on gender equality, public participation, public emancipation skills, and financial literacy. We covered so many topics. So far we have received positive feedback from the communities."