Workshop Between Stakeholders from Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality and TPO Nepal – Project INDIGO

On 24th August 2022, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal conducted an event titled “Workshop between stakeholders and TPO Nepal, under the project INDIGO. The event took place at the Rural Municipality office, Arjunchaupari. There were 26 participants in the event. The overall objective of the workshop was to develop knowledge and understanding of mental health, discuss the necessary measures to identify and reduce psychosocial problems in Arjunchaupari rural municipality and identify appropriate activities at the local level to reduce the stigma and discrimination against mental health.

The program started with a welcome speech by Ujjwal Bahadur Basnet, an administrative officer from Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality. Alongside, Syangja district coordinator/ researcher Jananee Magar, Psychosocial Counsellor, Sabitra Sharma, and Jr. Research Officer, Kalpana Bhattarai co-facilitated the event with a brief intro on TPO Nepal, Project Indigo, the concept of mental health, and psychosocial counseling, myth-busting. The program also gathered the views and understanding of stakeholders on stigma and discrimination against mental health and discussed the possible, suitable, and feasible awareness campaigns to reduce the stigma and discrimination against mental health problems in Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality.

Ward chair and members, people’s representative “Janapratinidhi”, Education Officer, executive member, health coordinator, School Teachers, member women, administrative officer, and children’s welfare society were the stakeholders participating in this event. The event had active participation from our stakeholders. The majority of the stakeholder shared that hoarding boards, pamphlets, and awareness through the Facebook page by creating banners and flyers are the best ways to generate awareness to reduce stigma and discrimination in Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality.

As part of the next step of this program’s impact, the type of media campaign, its title, and content (subject matter) aiming to reduce stigma and discrimination against mental health will be finalized and launched soon in Arjunchaupari Rural Municipality.