Coping to Learn: The Effects of Psychosocial Support to Students in South Sudan

WHO estimates of prevalence of mental health disorders in conflict-afflicted populations have led to urgent calls for intervention. Evidence of what works for education and mental health in conflict-affected areas is weak, particularly how to combine the two. This project will address this gap by estimating the effects of providing context-dependent psychosocial support to young people affected by conflict in South Sudan as they re-enter education. To do this the project team is partnering with BRAC International, an NGO that is currently establishing non-formal schools in South Sudan for out-of-school children aged 8-12. The team will integrate additional psychosocial support to BRAC’s non-formal education programme and assess whether this improves students’ mental health and learning outcomes using a randomised control trial. This project will also produce first estimates of the prevalence of depressive symptoms among children in South Sudan.

Dr Saurabh Singhal, Lancaster University; Dr Catherine Porter, Lancaster University; Dr Munshi Sulaiman, BRAC International, Uganda