INTRODUCTION
From 19 to 23 September, 2022, the Responsible Data for Children initiative (RD4C) team visited Uganda to map the data lifecycle of Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS) data about refugee children and to promote more responsible uses and reuses of such data, ultimately to improve the provision of MHPSS services in Uganda.
With over 1.5 million refugees —over half of which are children—Uganda is the third- 1 largest refugee-hosting country in the world and the largest refugee hosting country in Africa. Many of these refugees report experiencing psychological distress and 2 face challenges in accessing Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS), especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which has exacerbated the need for MHPSS amongst refugees and host communities.
Responsible Data for Children (RD4C) initiative—a partnership with The Governance Lab and UNICEF—seeks to support government o fficials and field practitioners to promote better management of refugee children’s data related to the provision of MHPSS services in Uganda. RD4C committed itself to working with UNICEF and UNHCR in Uganda to ideate ways to responsibly harmonize and connect the various MHPSS data sources available—including those derived from cases, surveys, and Inter-Agency Feedback, Referrals, and Resolution Mechanisms and other MHPSS programme interventions—so as to improve access and e ffectiveness of available services.
From 19–23 September, 2022, the RD4C initiative supported by UNICEF and UNHCR Uganda hosted three workshops (“studios” in the language of the RD4C initiative) in Kampala and Isingiro District, Uganda to map common challenges regarding the responsible use and reuse of refugee children’s MHPSS data and prototype a pathway forward to address these challenges through the lens of the responsible data for children principles.
Source: UN Children’s Fund