IAHV Peacebuilding

IAHV presented its bio-psychosocial approach to trauma-relief, resilience and empowerment at the International Scientific and Practical Conference “SUPPORTING OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE WAR CONDITIONS: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE AND UKRAINIAN REALITIES”, April 30, May 1, 2024, organised by a consortium of educational and health institutes, NGOs and state departments inside and outside Ukraine. The conference can be followed and watched here: https://lnkd.in/egie_QGZ (The IAHV presentation is around one hour into the conference - in Ukrainian translation)

Registration and Info for Professional Care trainings: https://lnkd.in/ek_jDm59

Mental Health and Wellbeing: Strengthening Resilience for Individuals, Societies and Nations   It was a great honor and privilege to have Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of The Art of Living and IAHV Peacebuilding at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to talk to staff about mental and physical wellbeing, and how these considerations can be woven into our development projects. Often, we talk about a country’s or company's wellbeing a lot more than mental wellbeing. The latter continues to be a taboo topic in many countries and societies. Yet, amidst the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we also realized the need to focus on our “Internal Environment”, i.e. our “Mental Environment”.  At the ADB, we have had a solid focus emerging on staff’s mental wellbeing, thanks to our HR colleagues. Staff overall wellbeing is a fundamental prerequisite for upholding our values of being Client-centric, Trustworthy, and Transformational, under our Culture Transformation Initiative which guides how we help our developing member countries (DMCs). Sri Sri gave a highly impactful lecture to a virtual and in-person audience of over 350 staff for 30 minutes focused on the need for achieving Prejudice-free-Societies, Trauma-free-Memories, Sorrow-free-Human beings, Confusion-free-Minds, and Inhibition-free-Intellect. Sri Sri also touched on various forms of prejudice, including gender and the need to dispel those as the World is One Family. He then held a breathing and guided relaxation session, followed by an active Q&A with staff working in project and regional operations all across ADB asking wideranging questions about wellbeing (work-life balance, managing expectations) and equally important, how to integrate wellbeing considerations into our support for ADB’s DMCs.   Sri Sri continues to inspire programs that promote human values, peace and wellbeing at the individual, community, and international levels. He has given numerous lectures at the United Nations, European Parliament, World Bank, World Economic Forum, and OECD among others. His visit to ADB helped amplify the development impact we create through focusing on individual and societal mental and physical wellbeing and resilience.   Our sincerest thanks and deepest appreciation to Sri Sri, and to all IAHV volunteers, in particular Charmaine Cu-Unjieng, Executive Director, International Association for Human Values (IAHV Philippines) for accommodating the ADB lecture as part of Sri Sri's visit to the Philippines along with a number of other countries over a month-long program to promote individual and societal resilience. Our HR wellbeing team helped with early preparation, and my colleagues in the Human and Social Development Sector Office (thanks Inagaki Ayako, Senior Sector Director; Vasoontara S. Yiengprugsawan, Senior Health Specialist; and Ma Antoniette Bihis, consultant) in the Sectors Group (thanks Navin Twarakavi, Jennifer Tantamco; Lyn Santos) did an amazing job in organizing the whole event. 

Meanwhile in Lithuania close to 1.000 Ukrainian children have benefited from the HRE workshop for children. (Co-funded by European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)) Watch this energising clip of our team in action on a famous Ukrainian folk song: https://lnkd.in/enHUDuDh The huge need for effective psychosocial support for Ukrainian children and the effectiveness of HRE have led to a long waiting list among the Ukrainian schools of Lithuania. Some of these schools, like the one from Charkov, are translocated fully to Lithuania, including children, parents and teachers. Thousands of Ukrainian children, but also their Ukrainian teachers who saw the effect on the children, are waiting for the HRE workshops to reduce their stress, improve sleep and regain energy. Thanks to the exemplary networking by our Lithuanian HRE team, including joining a Ukrainian choir, learning Ukrainian, caring, listening and drinking tea. Contact person in Lithuania: Jurate Ramanauskaite, +370 600 27806 , jurate.ramanauskaite@iahv.eu https://lnkd.in/dBV5ghWa ; www.iahv-peace.org Video idea and filming: Manal Karrara Video editing: Julia Righes