Conflict, displacement, disasters, disease outbreaks, and protracted crises place significant pressure on mental health and psychosocial well-being while also straining the health systems and services needed to respond.

To examine the capacities needed to strengthen mental health preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience in humanitarian settings, EMPHNET hosted the 57^th session of the EMPHNET WEBi Series, titled “Mental Health in Humanitarian Response: Challenges, Workforce Needs, and Priorities for Action,” on August 18, 2026, in commemoration of World Humanitarian Day.

The webinar brought together 191 participants and experts from Africa CDC, Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, and EMPHNET to discuss the mental health burden in humanitarian settings, workforce and information-system gaps, and the role of applied epidemiology and Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) in strengthening mental health capacities.

The session was moderated by Dr. Nada Ahmad, Director of the Center of Communication and Health Promotion at EMPHNET.

In commemoration of World Humanitarian Day, the webinar opened with a video highlighting the impact of the conflict in Sudan on communities, health workers, and essential health services, as well as ongoing efforts to strengthen health system resilience; watch it here.

The Mental Health Burden in Humanitarian Settings

Prof. Ragnhild Dybdahl, Senior Adviser and Program Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Associate Professor of Global Mental Health at the University of Bergen, and currently seconded to Africa CDC, discussed the mental health burden and its implications for health systems and humanitarian response.

She highlighted challenges affecting mental health systems, including gaps in human resources, data and surveillance, sustainable financing, appropriate services, and multisectoral coordination. She also emphasized the importance of integrating mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) into emergency preparedness and response and strengthening community-based and primary health care approaches.

Somalia: Strengthening Mental Health Workforce Capacity

Dr. Zeynab Ahmed Noor, National Manager of the Mental Health and Substance Use Section at Somalia’s Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, brought a country-level perspective to the discussion, drawing on Somalia’s experience to illustrate mental health workforce and information-system needs in a humanitarian context.

Drawing on Somalia’s workforce data and experience, she highlighted priorities including stronger workforce planning, supervision, coordination, and deployment, alongside better information on available MHPSS personnel and services. She also emphasized integrating MHPSS into primary health care and emergency preparedness and response structures and strengthening mental health data within national health information systems.

Her presentation demonstrated how country-level workforce and service data can help identify gaps and inform priorities for strengthening MHPSS capacity.

Building Mental Health Capacity Through Field Epidemiology

Dr. Amna Khairy, Technical Specialist at EMPHNET, discussed the role of applied epidemiology, surveillance, data use, and leadership in strengthening MHPSS systems.

She highlighted the importance of locally relevant evidence for identifying population needs, system capacities, service gaps, and priorities for action. She also outlined workforce functions needed across the emergency cycle, including needs assessment, coordination, data management and analysis, monitoring, and evaluation.

Dr. Khairy presented the Regional FETP–Mental Health initiative, established by EMPHNET in collaboration with Africa CDC to build technical, operational, and leadership capacity for mental health in emergencies. Its competency areas include mental health surveillance, field investigation and needs assessment, applied epidemiological methods, leadership and management, and public health communication.

The first Regional Intermediate FETP–Mental Health cohort began in July 2026 and is hosted by Egypt FETP. It brings together 24 residents and 11 mentors from five countries across MENA The program is approximately 75% field-based and includes mentored field assignments conducted in participants’ home countries. You can read more about it here.

The initiative is expected to contribute to stronger mental health surveillance and data systems, country-specific evidence, mentorship and cross-country learning, and the integration of mental health within emergency preparedness and response.

Audience Discussion

The webinar concluded with a moderated discussion and audience questions on MHPSS in humanitarian settings and the capacities needed to strengthen preparedness and response. Key areas of discussion included integrating MHPSS into primary health care and community settings, task shifting, community engagement, support for health and humanitarian workers, workforce development, and practical approaches to strengthening MHPSS in conflict-affected settings such as Gaza and Sudan.

Key Takeaways

• Humanitarian emergencies increase mental health and psychosocial needs while placing additional pressure on already strained health systems.
• Strengthening MHPSS across preparedness, response, and recovery requires capable workforces, reliable information systems, effective multisectoral coordination, and leadership.
• There is need for Country-level data and locally relevant evidence on to identify workforce and service gaps and guide priorities for action.
• Applied epidemiology can strengthen MHPSS through surveillance, needs assessment, and leadership and use of data for decision making, monitoring, evaluation, and communication.
• The Regional FETP–Mental Health initiative provides a field-based approach to developing epidemiology, surveillance, communication, and leadership competencies for mental health in emergencies.

Watch the webinar here.

Explore more sessions from the EMPHNET WEBi series here.