NOTICE: The editors are now preparing Vol 6 No. 3. a double issue covering the IASC Guidelines for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies. The issue will contain approx. 160 pages, 25 contributions from nearly 50 different authors and an increased number of copies will be printed. The publication of this number is now scheduled for the end of 2008 Now available: Volume 6: Number 2: July 2008 A new editor: This number introduces our new Editor in Chief; Peter Ventevogel, who takes over from Dr. Guus van der Veer. Peter Ventevogel is a Dutch psychiatrist and medical anthropologist with experience in Afghanistan, Burundi, Democratic Repiblic of Congo and Southern Sudan. His main areas of expertise are integration of mental health into primary care, mental health policy, training of health workers and indigenous conceptions of mental and psychosocial problems. He is also the technical advisor for HealthNet TPO (an NGO based in Amsterdam) and consultant on mental health for the WHO. Dr. van der Veer, the driving force in establishing this journal, continues to contribute to Intervention in other roles, including his role as a member of the editorial board. Community based sociotherapy in Byumba, Rwanda Annemiek Richters, Cora Dekker, and Willem F. Scholte Sociotherapy is described as a therapeutic method to help groups that are severely affected by violence to restore mutual trust, improve dignity and decrease psychosocial distress. Experiences of a sociotherapy project in N. Rwanda reveal some of the key lessons to be learned. Pioneering work in mental health outreaches in rural, southwestern Uganda Elias Byaruhanga, Elizabeth Cantor-Graae, Samuel Maling and Jerome Kabakyenga With huge populations in Uganda's rural areas, and services centred on urban areas, the paper follows a project for decentralization of mental health care: from collecting the baseline data on needs, through to an effective provision of services in the local community. Developing relevant knowledge and practical skills of psychosocial work and counselling Guus van der Veer Transferring knowledge from the western context is not simple, and must be made adaptable to the local context. As an experienced trainer of counsellors, the author outlines the common factors which need to be addressed. Culturally sensitive supervision by expatriate professionals: basic ingredients Tom Haans Examples of basic issues which have arisen when foreigners are in supervisory roles are summarized with reference to poignant examples. A potential resource? Ex-militants in Jammu and Kashmir Shoma Sonpar Militant political activists emerge from an exploratory qualitive analysis as has having valuable skills for social development. This Indian study used a phenomenological stance to identify key life experiences among ex-militants in respect to political violence and identified the altruistic drive as an underutilized resource for social development. Children's needs or children's rights? The Convention on the Rights of the Child as a framework for implementing psychosocial programmes. Margaret McCallin Many projects are started from a needs-based analysis. In any emergency situation there is also a risk to the human rights of children, which is not usually included in the conceptual framework for psychosocial interventions. McCallin looks at the CRC and asks if psychosocial interventions would be more effective if they took it as their starting point. The challenge of recovering from war trauma in the African great lakes region: an experience from Centre Ubuntu in the Projet Colombe Network Emmanuel Ntakarutimana Field report from a project in Burundi designed to rebuild the resilience of individuals in a community which still wrestles with ethnic conflicts and residual violence. Mental health and psychosocial interventions and their role in poverty alleviation. Proceedings of a conference Baingana, F. Field report from a multidisciplinary conference held in January 2008 in Burundi with participants from African countries in the Great Lake Area. Download: Introduction and Summaries - Volume 6: Number 2: Subscribe to Intervention Download previous numbers of Intervention