Integrating child mental health responses into recovery, development, and peacebuilding in fragile and conflict affected settings

The world is a challenging place for children today, with a staggering 473 million living in fragile and conflict affected settings worldwide.1 Witnessing or enduring violence during their most formative years of development makes children especially vulnerable to lasting mental health and psychosocial disorders. Yet less than 1% of development assistance is allocated to mental health services, and many children affected by conflict do not have access to evidence based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions.2The BRANCH Consortium, an academic research enterprise aimed at improving evidence for effective action on women’s and children’s health and nutrition in conflict settings, has comprehensively documented the health effects of conflict on women and children and identified critical gaps in intervention.3 These findings confirm what practitioners have long observed: we know what works, but we fail to deliver at scale. In addition, we are failing to connect humanitarian, development, and peace efforts, meaning…