Fiji is among the countries with low COVID-19 cases. Even before the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus as a pandemic, the Government of Fiji had already toughened its border security and restricted the entry of foreign nationals who had been in mainland China within 14 days of their planned travel to the country. Lockdowns and curfew in islands with active cases were also imposed, which eventually helped in managing the spread of the virus.

However, despite the low number of cases, the COVID-19 pandemic still had greatly impacted the existing hardships faced by persons with psychosocial disabilities in Fiji. It also exposed that people with psychosocial disability in the country are still marginalized and left behind. Also for the general public, the psychological effects of COVID-19 are as important to address as the physical health effects.

Below are the key challenges impacting the lives of people with psychosocial disability in Fiji:

• Lack of access to proper screening of Coronavirus;
• Lack of access to information
• Increased anxiety and panic attacks
• Loss of employment and reduced working hours
• Inability to apply coping mechanisms that previously worked due to mobility restrictions
• Lack of supply in medications due to the shortage in the hospitals
• Lack of access to sexual reproductive health services
• Slashes in social security benefits; and
• Human rights violations when individuals breach curfew hours.

Partner Organization: Psychiatric Survivors Association of Fiji (PSA)

The Psychiatric Survivors Association of Fiji (PSA) is the oldest user survivor organization in the Pacific Islands. It is a national organization of people with psychosocial disabilities that aims to provide individual support to its members and promote human rights through friendship, peer support, advocacy, mental health promotion, community education, campaigning and policy work. Since its establishment in 2004 it is run by a small group of people who had spent time in Fiji’s only inpatient facility (St. Giles Hospital). PSA has now grown with around 350 members throughout the Fiji Islands.

Link to website (via partner’s logo): https://psafiji.weebly.com/

Key Information:

Budget: 5000 USD
Time frame: August 2020 to January 2021
Project Areas: Central Division, Western Division, Vanuabalavu
Target Individuals/Group: 25 members/persons with psychosocial disability

PSA has encountered great difficulties in carrying out its core work during the pandemic, especially with a recent slash of the government funding. Nevertheless, this phase has offered several opportunities for the organization to advance its understanding on how to address the rising psychosocial distress among individuals caused by the increasing unemployment, lack of food security, lack of job opportunities, possible loss of life and threats to support systems.

With focus on psychosocial first aid and care, PSA responds to the above mentioned needs by creating a backyard farming project that aims to augment the large scale unemployment problem and disturbance to coping mechanisms of the members. At the end of the project, PSA hopes to show evidence of the therapeutic benefits of gardening and its long term sustainability, improved food security for the members and decreased level of stress, anxiety and panic. The main components of the response include the distribution of farming equipment and seeds to the members, home visits, sustaining the peer support system (i.e. through one-on-one sessions and group support via listening circles), awareness raising and advocacy. PSA will also work with the homeless to provide relief measures and a safe space, as their numbers are rising and they are particularly vulnerable at this point.

Indonesia is one of the countries that showed little progress in flattening the curve of COVID-19 cases, as reflected in its response mechanisms. On June 15, 2020, a month prior to the implementation of the COVID-19 Micro Grants Program, the total cases in the country reached up to 39,294. Scholars at that time argued that the real number of cases were much higher than the record, because the rollout of testing was far under the recommendation provided by the World Health Organization.

The weak response by the Indonesian government greatly impacted the lives of persons with psychosocial disability, especially those living in social care institutions. There was no evident action plan and response from the government when it came to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in those institutions, which were in vulnerable state due to the lack of sanitation, malnutrition of residents, inhuman treatment and over-capacity. The only initiative that was noted from the government was the release of health protocols for all establishments and institutions throughout Indonesia, including physical distancing order, wearing of mask and gloves and hand-washing. But even so, it was not clear if the protocol addressed the needs in social care institutions or not, or if it can be implemented, especially given the problems in sanitation and overcapacity.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 Micro Grants Program, there was still no data about the residents’ health conditions vis-à-vis COVID-19. There were also no reports as to whether or not the virus has already spread in social care institutions. This gap in data collection, along with the lack of response of the government are the central themes being addressed by the project.

Partner Organization: Indonesian Mental Health Association (IMHA)

The Indonesian Mental Health Association (IMHA) or Perhimpunan Jiwa Sehat in Bahasa, is the only national organization of persons with psychosocial disabilities in Indonesia. Its vision is to shift community and government attitudes away from the medical or institution-based models towards human rights based, community models in alignment with the UN CRPD. IMHA plays a groundbreaking and critical role in promoting the rights of this group. Their scope of advocacy is for inclusion in a wide range of development arenas, including housing, social protection, political participation, education, and employment.

Link to website (via partner’s logo):https://web.facebook.com/indonesianmentalhealthassociation

The Project: Indonesians with Psychosocial Disabilities Living in Social Care Institutions amidst Covid-19 Pandemic

Key Information:

Budget: 4,980.00 USD
Timeframe: August 2020 to January 2021
Project Areas: West Java, Central Java, and East Java with national reach in advocacy
Target Individuals/Group: Social care institutions, Indonesian policy makers, DPOs, and the general public

Given the lack of clarity in the government’s response to COVID-19 in social care institutions, IMHA had already conducted several advocacy activities to improve the resident condition. These include sending a letter to the President of the Republic of Indonesia demanding immediate action to save the lives of persons with psychosocial disabilities and releasing several advocacy videos to increase public attention to the conditions in care institutions. However, it has been recognized that these efforts were not sufficient. It is in this context that this response project focuses on intensifying the advocacy work to call on the government to act immediately, and to promote the recognition of persons with psychosocial disabilities and their needs both by the government and civil society movement itself.

The key activities include data collection on the situation of social care institutions, writing a position paper on Disaster Risk Reduction for Indonesians with psychosocial disabilities in social care institutions, production of one advocacy video, and several advocacy activities such as holding cross-ministerial meetings with the government, lobbying with local governments and local parliament members, social media campaign and national- and regional-level webinars. These are being done in collaboration with other DPOs and civil society organizations for stronger and more powerful advocacy.

Malaysia is a high income Asian country, with a mix of the uber traditional and the uber modern! It is also a Commonwealth nation, with traditional mental health laws (emanating from lunacy laws), mental institutions with its culture of forced treatments. A cross disability view of persons with psychosocial disabilities is absent and the discourse has remained within ‘mental health’, as is the case in many commonwealth nations. With respect to the COVID 19, the government took immediate measures to control the pandemic and the number of cases did not escalate as in other neighbouring countries. However, there is the possibility that people in institutions face higher risk of infections though data is scarce.

Partner Organization: Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA)

The Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA) is a peer group that provides support for peers and caregivers through programs and initiatives, while also promoting awareness on mental health and mental health issues. It provides holistic solutions and champions the recovery model and the human rights based approach, with a core belief that empowerment and social inclusion enable peers to find meaning and purpose and ultimately recover and continue to lead fulfilling lives.

Since its incorporation in October 2017 being a Mental Health Advocacy and Peer Support group, MIASA has already conducted more than 250 activities spanning across awareness, advocacy, relief and livelihood activities. Currently, it is now more involved in the discussion of the design and delivery of the mental health services in Malaysia. Also as an advocacy group, MIASA has sparked public interest and media attention by being one of the major sources of information for the community on the issue.

Link to website (via partner’s logo): https://miasa.org.my/

The Project: Trauma-Informed Care and Crisis Management Training: The Orchid Club House

Key Information:

Budget: 4,070.96 USD
Timeframe: August 2020 to January 2021
Project Areas:
Target Individuals/Group: Volunteers, peers, caregivers, and first responders

In 2019, a commitment was made by Malaysia’s former Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister on helping those struggling with mental health issues. History was made as mental health finally became part of the national health agenda. Hence, as part of its advocacy, MIASA remains committed to extend support and commitment to help its peers with mental health issues by establishing a crisis team operating at its clubhouse. The clubhouse will serve as a hub situated in the community to assist those struggling with any kind of mental health conditions through a holistic recovery approach including programs such as supported employment, transitional employment, various social activities, therapy, peer support, counselling, art therapy, spiritual classes, and more.

This project supports the training of volunteers and getting the clubhouse ready. Once completed, the clubhouse will operate on two tracks; one is focused on the operation of the crisis team and the other is on community education and outreach through medium of art, social media, infographic, booth and etc. As a complementary effort, social enrichment activities and livelihood enhancement will also be undertaken.

A month preceding the implementation of the COVID-19 Micro Grants Program, 6,211 people were alreadyinfected by COVID-19 in Nepal, with a total of 19 deaths, and the transmission already happening at the community level. The country had also been, at the time, in lockdown since March 24, 2020, which wasslightly eased from June 15, 2020. The number of tests carried out increased and there were plans to intensifyit in order to generate an accurate picture of the COVID-19 situation in Nepal.

After three months in lockdown, people had already started questioning the government’s response to the pandemic especially with regards to the quarantine measures and the diagnostic/treatment facilities. These, in addition to the lack of relief distribution to the general population and business communities, had added stress to their lives. An online survey from TPO Nepal among 1507 respondents has shown that 20% of respondents had restlessness; 24% experienced fearfulness; 24% had anxiety and worry; and 24% experienced sadness most of the times/always over last 2 weeks. The same survey showed that 42% of respondents went through at least one psychosocial problem, whereas 26% had two or more psychosocial issues such as restlessness, fearfulness, anxiety, worry & sadness.

Furthermore, a rapid assessment on situation of persons with disabilities in the context of COVID-19 and lockdown by National Federation of Disabled Nepal (NFDN) among 422 participants across 7 provinces highlighted that 46% of respondents think that the information about COVID made available is not accessible for them, 40.1% of respondents have lost their source of income and 18.9% think that they will lose it in the near future, 54.5% are at the risk of scarcity of food in the near future, 7.5% are with the need of immediate psychosocial support and 45% are in the urgent need of hygiene materials, 60.34% are in the need of relief materials but 54.7% out of them are still out of access to relief packages. The results also show that 79% are living with fear and 31.5% are extremely scared with the ratio of 60.15% female and 39.85% male.

While the spread of virus around the world and the protective measures are taking a toll on the general population, persons with disabilities, including persons with psychosocial disability are notably among the most vulnerable groups as they are not prioritized by the government or any other sectors; whether it be the access to information (e.g., about COVID 19, safety and precautionary measures, quarantine, isolation or lockdown), provision of peer support, in meeting the daily living needs, response plan, access to protective equipment, and many others. It is evident that there are various barriers that persons with disability have to deal with, emphasizing the need for immediate action from the duty bearers.

Partner Organization: KOSHISH National Mental Health Self-Help Organization

KOSHISH is a non-governmental, non-profit national self-help organization working in the field of mental health and psychosocial disability at the grassroots community level in Nepal. It was founded in 2008 by the initiation of the persons having lived experience of mental health issues. The word ‘KOSHISH’ means ‘making an effort’ and it had a combined team of both passionate and professional people. KOSHISH provides and advocates for independent living, inclusion and meaningful participation of persons with lived experiences of mental health conditions and psychosocial disability through strategic advocacy and service delivery in line with Article-19 of UNCRPD, 2006 at its core.

Link to website (via partner’s logo): https://www.koshishnepal.org/

The Project: COVID 19 response through peer support for persons with psychosocial disability Key Information:

Budget: 5,000.00 USD
Timeframe: August 2020 to January 2021
Project Areas:
Target Individuals/Group: 720 individual members, 30 households, and Protection Cluster members

The continuous promotion of peer support during the pandemic, especially for persons with psychosocial disability, has been noted as an important area of intervention by the organization. KOSHISH has been in contact with its target members, and some of the key challenges they identified include the lockdown and social distancing rules and lack of access to the internet. These have hampered their ability to connect with peers through in-person and online sessions, which KOSHISH intends to address through this project.

Contributing towards the reduction of stresses caused by COVID-19 to persons with psychosocial disability, the project hopes to create a space for its members to provide social and emotional support to each other and help them understand and deal with their situation better. Beyond this, the project also aims to increase the knowledge and attitude of government officials around psychosocial disability, address the gap in the relief operations (i.e. not reaching the disability groups), and make inroads in meaningful incorporation of components of psychosocial wellbeing by the Protection Cluster in COVID-19 response and future disasters. The key activities include the facilitation of peer support meetings (i.e. both for individuals and groups), distribution of IEC materials containing information on disability inclusive COVID-19 response, distribution of relief goods, and advocacy work.

Mental health and people with psychosocial disabilities are one of the least talked about topics in Pakistan. In the present global health crisis, the Psychosocial Disability Rights Network Pakistan has emphasized that the risk of being infected by COVID-19 is high for persons with psychosocial disabilities and expressed solidarity with OPDs worldwide in advocating for a disability-inclusive response from governments and other actors.

One of the biggest challenges for people with psychosocial disabilities in the country during the pandemic is isolation, which means that there is no easy access to everyday necessities. Isolation periods from one to two weeks can be beneficial to relieve work pressure that affects people’s stress and anxiety levels, but longer isolation extending to months has already made people with psychosocial disabilities feel helpless and has caused a serious impact on their lives. Changes in concentration, keeping focus, eating patterns, and difficulty in sleeping are some of the observed challenges experienced by individuals in terms of mental health. Moreover, excessive information vis-à-vis months-long quarantine has increased the levels of distress, anxiety, fears, and self-harm, and increased the use of alcohol and drugs.

Financially, people with disabilities in Pakistan are facing huge economic burdens as they have no access to employment opportunities and those who were employed had been sent home on unpaid leave. It is worse for persons with psychosocial disabilities, who were only marginally included in the employment sector, to begin with. Those who belong to very poor economic conditions have no access to work from home facilities, as they live in small houses with poor internet connection and many do not have smartphones or computers.

The government has taken a couple of initiatives to support people living in poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, people with psychosocial disabilities have no access to the information and no access to registration during the lockdown. In this context, the COVID-19 Micro Grants program will support providing relief packages for affected individuals and help the government become more aware of the needs and rights of persons with diverse disabilities during global crises.

Partner Organization: Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP)

Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP) is a cross-disability organization that promotes the empowerment of all persons with disabilities in Pakistan. It is committed to mainstreaming disability in development through empowering individuals and organizations as well as sensitizing society about a rights-based approach.

Since its establishment, STEP has already accomplished various initiatives including lobbying and advocacy, awareness-raising, counseling, development of an accessible environment, promoting accessible information, capacity development, consultancy services, strengthening referral systems, and outreach. One of its breakthroughs in the development of a disability job portal, the first of its kind job portal in Pakistan, which will specifically serve persons with disabilities to get job opportunities that are available in various sectors of the country. STEP also supports a newly emerging OPD, the Psychosocial Disability Rights Network (PDRN).

Link to website (via partner’s logo): https://www.step.org.pk/

The Project: Response to Covid-19 Pandemic: Distribution of Relief Packages to Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities Key Information:

Budget: 4,100.00 USD
Timeframe: August 2020 to January 2021
Project Areas:
Target Individuals/Group: 50 persons with psychosocial disability, policymakers, and PDRN

STEP’s COVID-19 response project focuses on the immediate and medium-term needs of people with psychosocial disabilities, with an emphasis on the need to access personal support assistance and the required reasonable accommodation in their homes. The project also supports persons with psychosocial disabilities to upkeep hygiene measures during the pandemic, and advocates for an inclusive response from the government following commitments enshrined in the UN CRPD.

The key activities in the response include the distribution of relief packs, development and dissemination of IEC material on health and safety measures during the pandemic, consultation on the needs of persons with psychosocial disability, drafting of recommendations and advocacy letters to the government, a series of advocacy meetings, and website development to improve the online visibility of PDRN. Through these, STEP hopes to influence the national government in ensuring the inclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities in development and emergency responses, as reflected in the Bali Declaration and other frameworks.

Thailand has been one of the first countries affected by COVID-19 which prompted the government to implement hard measures to prevent the spread of the disease. These include strict lockdowns and curfew, complemented with public campaigns and education. In the country, this pandemic followed closely after a period of drought that badly affected the agricultural sector, compounding the loss of livelihood of the people that was already a problem beforehand.

A month before the implementation of the COVID-19 Micro Grants Program, on June 14, 2020, the official records from the Thai government indicated that the total number of people infected in the country was 3,135; 691 of which were infected from abroad and 2,444 got infected within the country. The total number of deaths at that time was 58, while 90 people were in the hospital and 2,987 persons have recovered and were already discharged.

The measures were generally accepted as effective in prevention, but not without a cost. The Office of National Economic and Social Development Council reported in Quarter 1 of 2020 that during the lockdown, an alarming number of unemployed individuals reached 394,520, while disguised unemployment was recorded at 448,050. The unemployed were from agriculture, industrial, and self-employed sectors. The Office also predicted that 520,000 new graduates projected to come out in May-July 2020 will face limited employment opportunities, and by the end of the year, a total of 8.4 million were projected to lose their jobs.

The social protection measures from the government with funding of 1.4 trillion Baht was targeted to provide loans to the workers in key sectors, such as tourism and hospitality, and to business owners. However, persons with disability, especially persons with psychosocial disability, have had difficulty in accessing that support. There was a one-time 1,000 baht support for them, compared to the 5,000 baht/month for 3 months for the affected workers. There were attempts from Disability Thailand, an umbrella organization of national cross-disability associations, to advocate for better and fairer support for persons with disability, butthe government failed to respond as demanded.

Partner Organization: Living Association

Living Association is an organization of persons with psychosocial disabilities and their caregivers and supporters, offering support in recovery, development of skills, promotion of opportunity to work, and inclusion of persons with psychosocial disability in the community. The organization values the importance of wellbeing and being alive as prerequisites of happiness and a better quality of life. Its flagship program, the Living Recovery Center, is a modified clubhouse with peer-run services focusing on holistic wellness, which includes the physical, emotional, intellectual, social, financial, environmental, occupational, and spiritual wellness.

Link to website (via partner’s logo): https://web.facebook.com/LivingRecoveryCenter

The Project: Trainings on organic vegetable gardens in urban spaces: the prototype for food security as a COVID 19 response

Key Information:

Budget:5,000.00 USD
Timeframe:July to December 2020
Project Areas:Bangkok and satellite cities
Target Individuals/Group:10 training participants and 30 persons with psychosocial disability

In an attempt to respond to the loss of livelihood of persons with psychosocial disability during the pandemic, Living Association is setting up two training centers for organic vegetable farming in urban small spaces. Through these centers, the project hopes to increase the food security and income of the members, with an accompanying curriculum for vegetable gardening training. The training focuses on growing clean food supply and setting up organic vegetable gardens that are adapted and suitable to each person’s living environment.

Living Association will also advocate for the promotion of job training and employment of persons with psychosocial disability in the government, with reference to the Person with Disability Empowerment Act B.E. 2556, giving mandate to the government to allocate 8,000 jobs for the sector. At the end of the project, the organization hopes to achieve an increased recognition and inclusion of persons with psychosocial disability in this government’s employment quota. The project also aims to promote sufficient economy in the long run, as well as independent living with dignity and access of children with psychosocial disability to education.