Mental health

School nurse Sangita Kafle in a classroom speaking to students at the Durga Secondary School UNICEF Nepal/2023/LPNgakhusi, “It has given us a clearer insight into the students' realities, and helped us guide them more effectively when they are struggling.” , That is Sangita Kafle, school nurse at the Durga Secondary School in Chandrapur Municipality in Rautahat District, reflecting on a training that she participated in related to child and adolescent mental health and psychosocial support. The training was facilitated by UNICEF in partnership with TPO Nepal – backed by funding support from David…, TPO representatives conducting a group healing session with Durga Secondary School students, UNICEF Nepal/2023/RUpadhayay TPO representatives conducting a group healing session with Durga Secondary School students Durga UNICEF Nepal/2023/RUpadhayay TPO representatives conducting a group healing session with Durga Secondary School students Durga UNICEF Nepal/2023/RUpadhayay TPO representatives conducting a group healing session with Durga…

Community-based psychosocial worker Mamata Gautam. Community-based psychosocial worker Mamata Gautam. Surkhet, Kathmandu: When Mamata Gautam first saw a social media post about a vacancy for a Community-Based Psychosocial Worker or CPSW, she felt drawn to it immediately. A student of Health from Surkhet District in western Nepal, the 22-year-old…, It takes a village, In addition to working with children and adolescents, the project also has a component aimed at caregivers. Ratna says that this was a crucial inclusion, because the effort would have been “incomplete” without ensuring that the parents had the knowledge and the tools to create a supportive environment for their children. A view of SEL sessions…

Kathmandu, Nepal: Within the premises of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit at the Kanti Children’s Hospital in Kathmandu are a number of rooms, each occupied by a healthworker, often found talking in soothing tones on their phones or headsets. This is the tele-mental health OPD, a facility under which a team of psychiatrists and clinical…

Surkhet, Nepal:  It was early in 2022 when Lokendra Subedi began to worry about his young son. The child – eight years old at the time – was starting to act a bit strange, showing a number of changes in his behaviour that concerned both Lokendra and wife Tika.  “He was taking a lot of long breaths, not sleeping as well as he used to… he would also…, Crucial support, Forty per cent of Nepal’s population at present consists of children and adolescents under the age of 18.  One of the key challenges for this young demographic relates to mental health – the country has one of the highest rates of suicide among adolescents in the South Asia region.  Seven in 1,000 adolescents have attempted suicide in their…, Reaching the unreached, Nursing officer at Mehelkuna Primary Health Care Centre in Surkhet District Ishwori Poudel. UNICEF Nepal/2022/RUpadhayay Nursing officer at Mehelkuna Primary Health Care Centre in Surkhet District Ishwori Poudel. In 2022 alone, the tele-mental health unit has fielded over 3,000 calls. In addition to working with provincial hospital management and…

Nuwakot, Nepal: On a quiet September afternoon at Kakani Rural Municipality in Nuwakot District in central Nepal, a group of young people are sat at large tables set around the Nepal Scouts Training Center, busily sketching on pieces of paper. The 18 adolescents – members of the Nepal Scouts representing all seven provinces in the country – are…

Over the years, I have come to realize that our mental health is deeply bonded to the relationships we share with our parents, with our peers, with people we encounter, and with the society we live in. As someone who has stepped into her twenties, I now understand the impact these relationships have on my overall mental well-being.  Inside our…

This image shows Sumitra, one of the members of the designers club Sumitra, 17 Kathmandu, Nepal: “It’s hard for young people to talk about mental health struggles or ask for help. And it’s gotten worse after COVID-19. I’ve seen so many people I know suffering silently.” That is 17-year-old Sumitra from Kathmandu, Nepal, referring to the prevalence…

NEW YORK, 5 October 2021 – Children and young people could feel the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and well-being for many years to come, UNICEF warned in its flagship report today. According to The State of the World’s Children 2021; On My Mind: promoting, protecting and caring for children’s mental health – UNICEF’s most comprehensive…

This image shows a poster with illustrations from the In our own words books 'In our own words' is a platform for young people to write the kind of short stories they would want to read. Capturing the visions and voices of 20 young writers from different parts of the country, the anthology comprises two books 'My Heroine and 'Our Lives Today'. The…,    ,    , My heroine , This collection of stories is penned by young people between the ages of 10 and 14. From the Mushroom Kingdom to the village of Lakshmanwa; from a girl with an unfamiliar last name to the story behind a scarred face, the short stories in this book are a mixture of the strange and the commonplace. This collection will take you on many journeys and…,    ,  , Our lives today , In this collection of short stories, the writers have explored various themes ranging from love, death, regret, loss to bravery, making mistakes and asking questions. Characters suffer during the pandemic, seek purpose in life and work to make peace with their pasts. Some stories might seem personal while others are reflective of our times. What…, Project background , For ‘In our own words’ an open call for short fiction under the themes of gender and mental health was announced on the International Day of the Girl Child in 2020. Out of more than 80 submissions, authors of 20 stories were brought together for a series of workshops on storytelling. Alongside learning the craft of telling stories, the…, About the creative partners , Opens in a new tab or window. Anuradha   Opens in a new tab or window. Virangana Comics Collective    , Partners, British Council Nepal Opens in a new tab or window. UNICEF Nepal   Opens in a new tab or window. Room To Read   

Sindhupalchowk, Nepal: The arrival of the monsoon in mid-June this year was marked by days of heavy, incessant rainfall in many parts of the country. Among these was Sindhupalchowk District in central Nepal, which experienced flash floods and landslides that led to devastating losses of life and property. This image shows a flooded riverside in…

This image shows psychologist Anjan Dhakal in the process of counselling at the Harisiddhi Isolation Centre in central Nepal. Psychologist Anjan Dhakal at the Harisiddhi Isolation Centre in central Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal, June 2021: On the premises of the Harisiddhi Isolation Centre in Lalitpur District in central Nepal, Anjan Dhakal is preparing…

Kathmandu, Nepal: Twenty-one-year-old Sailesh RC has recently set himself a task for the coming weeks: to make sure to write at least one scene every single day. Sailesh – originally from Dailekh District in mid-western Nepal, but currently living in Kathmandu – is a filmmaker, a recent graduate of media studies, and has already been engaged in a…