Oxford Human Rights Festival begins this evening

Celebrating the success of the Sketch Club Quetta, Pakistan: Harnessing the power of art in conflict

Aparna Maladkar writes:

As part of the 18^th Oxford Human Rights Festival, an informal art group, the Sketch Club Quetta in Balochistan Province, Pakistan has been invited to exhibit on the theme of ‘resilience’. The members of the club are students, youth and adults from the Hazara community, courageously responding non-violently and peacefully through art against stigmatisation and violence they face on a regular basis.

Though art is neither ‘a solution’ nor ‘a quick fixer’[1], there has been a sharp increase in art activities in conflict scenarios in recent years, especially since UNHCR[2] made a call to increase the often-overlooked art programmes in the humanitarian context to help find holistic solutions. History is full of examples of art as activism, protest and political tool. Through the success of Sketch Club founder Sir Fazil’s[3] informal art group, it would be appropriate to try to understand what more can art deliver, and ponder on the reasons for harnessing the power of art movements in conflict situations.

Work in Progress: Mental health and wellbeing support for aid workers

Hitendra Solanki writes about his Work in Progress seminar presentation this coming Thursday:

Recent research reveals that, increasingly, humanitarian workers are experiencing stress, anxiety, trauma, and burnout, at elevated levels, significantly impacting on their mental health and wellbeing. In the Philippines, a pioneering community-led approach to help address this increasing mental health challenge has been initiated.

The ‘Wellbeing Cluster’ is a pioneering project, and comprises a dedicated multi-stakeholder platform that brings together humanitarian agencies from across the Philippines, to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of aid workers.

In essence, it links local and national NGOs with INGOs, governmental departments, academia, youth organisations, private sector, CSOs, and other key stakeholders to work together in strategically building the capacity of individuals and organisations in all aspects of wellbeing related to mental health. 

As a new model within the humanitarian architecture, it potentially represents the first of many Wellbeing Clusters, nationally, regionally, and globally, forming a living network of pooled knowledge, expertise, services and resources.

This short presentation will explore the journey of the development of the Wellbeing Cluster, and the various challenges that have been raised in the process. In particular, it will highlight key issues related to mental health, and offer a debate into how aid workers and communities could be more effectively supported for their mental health and wellbeing.

* * *

Hitendra is currently the Mindfulness & Wellbeing Adviser for Simply Mindful, a mindfulness and wellbeing consultancy offering training and support to humanitarian agencies, academia and the business sector in establishing mindfulness approaches within their organizations.

In addition, he has also been teaching at London South Bank University since 2003, and is currently the Senior Lecturer on the MSc Development Studies course.

He has been active in the development and humanitarian sector for 17 years, and more recently, in hunger and health related programming for 10 years with Action Against Hunger UK.

More recently, at Action Against Hunger UK, he led the three-year Mindfulness & Wellbeing project as part of the Start Network’s Transforming Surge Capacity programme, funded by DFID under their Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) across Thailand, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the UK.

Hitendra is also a trained mindfulness teacher, from the Centre for Mindfulness Research & Practice (CMRP), at the University of Bangor. And has also had some teaching experience via the Centre for Mindfulness, at the University of Massachusetts.

The seminar is at 16.30-18.00 on Thursday 5 March in room JHB303 in the John Henry Brookes building, Headington Campus. This is the last Work in Progress session this semester. The seminar by Dr Kirsten McConnachie, originally scheduled for 12 March, will now be held in the autumn.