POLICY BRIEF article
Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Mental Health Services
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1465236
A POLICY-DRIVEN MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT IN AFRICAN UNION PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS: THE WAY FORWARD IN IMPROVING THE PSYCHOSOCIAL WELLBEING OF PEACE SUPPORT PERSONNEL
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
- 2African Union Commission’s Peace Support Operations Division, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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For peace and security within Africa, the African Union Peace Support Operations (AUPSO) Division deploy personnel to volatile areas, predisposing them to physical and psychosocial problems. However, their physical health is prioritized over their psychosocial health. Analysis To mitigate this, AU, in collaboration with Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Ghana initiated a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) course for AUPSO personnel without any MHPSS policy guidelines. Policy Options The WHO’s Action Plan 2013-2020 encouraged institutions and organizations to prioritize mental health of personnel; hence the United Nations adopted a mental health and well-being strategy to enhance the psychosocial wellbeing of its personnel in 2018. Conclusion Policy driven MHPSS interventions would promote the wholistic wellbeing of AUPSO personnel in attaining their missions’ mandate.
Keywords: Mental Health, Psychosocial problems, African Union, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, wellbeing, peace support operations, policy
Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 LARRY-AFUTU and Abotsi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: JOANA AFFUL LARRY-AFUTU, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
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