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Join the next peer learning exercise
Learn Psychological First Aid (PFA) for children.
PFA Connect
Meet, network, and learn with over 2,000 professionals who support Ukrainian children.
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Who is this for?
PFA Connect is for everyone who is supporting children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine to:
- Share challenges, solutions, tools
- Learn by sharing experience
- Build trusted relationships
- Strengthen local support for children
Who participates?
Over 2,000 professionals have already connected through this programme, including:
- Teachers and other education professionals
- Social workers and community support staff
- Mental health specialists
- Other health care professionals
- Red Cross staff and volunteers
Everyone who supports Ukrainian children is welcome.
EARN CERTIFICATIONHow does it work?
SEE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS1. Register for the next session
- It takes one click to register.
- Ask a question or share a challenge.
- Invite colleagues to join.
PFA Connect is built for busy professionals.
REGISTER NOW2. Meet, network, learn
- Meet in small groups.
- Discuss real-world questions and and challenges.
- Share practical solutions, tools, and practices.
Participants will be asked to decide if they wish to extend the session.
3. Get insights
- Everyone who attends receives the insights from the session.
- Stay connected with colleagues to build your professional network.
- Invite colleagues to join the next session.
Practical steps to learn and support each other
How can this help me?
Get practical help with your challenges
Ready to share your experience?
If you support Ukrainian children, you have valuable experience to share.
- Is there a specific situation or challenge that you would like help with?
- Do you have a success story or lesson learned that you would like to share?
- Do you have a tool or resource you would like to share?
- Is there a specific topic you would like to discuss?
- Is there an upcoming event you would like to inform your colleagues about?
If you are new to Psychological First Aid (PFA) for children, ask a question about PFA.
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCEWhat do you get from sharing?
Contributors will be recognized by certification and invited to join the Leadership Circle, a Europe-wide network of practitioners who support Ukrainian children.
After each session, you will receive a summary of:
- Practical solutions shared by participants
- Useful resources you can use immediately
- Ways to stay connected with colleagues
Previous participants report:
- Immediate practical solutions for working with children.
- New professional connections across sectors.
- Enhanced confidence in supporting children in crisis.
What is Psychological First Aid (PFA)?
Psychological First Aid (PFA) provides emotional and practical support to individuals, families, or communities who are having difficulty coping.
It is about establishing a connection with people in a compassionate non-judgmental manner to bring calm and comfort.
It also helps to reduce stigma associated with mental health crises and can reduce negative health outcomes through general public and community building strategies on self-care and promoting conversations about wellness.
How does PFA support children?
PFA for children may entail:
- comforting children and caregivers in distress and helping them feel safe and calm;
- assessing needs and concerns;
- protecting children from harm;
- providing emotional support;
- helping to address immediate basic needs (e.g. food, water, a blanket or shelter);
- listening to children and caregivers without pressuring them to talk; and
- helping children and caregivers access information, services and social support.
Source: MHPSS International Movement Hub
LEARN PFA FOR CHILDRENAre you new to Psychological First Aid (PFA) for children?
- You will be encouraged to complete a 20-minute rapid learning module before you start sharing your experience with supporting children – and to explore how PFA resources can help.
- You will quickly gain the foundational skills to start incorporating PFA into your work with children.
- Connecting with experienced practitioners will provide ongoing guidance as you apply and adapt PFA to your context.
Have you already practiced PFA for children?
- By reflecting on your experiences and engaging with others, you will gain fresh perspectives to enhance your practice.
- Your insights will be invaluable in supporting less experienced peers and strengthening the overall crisis response for children.
Are you a mental health professional?
- Your expertise can enrich our peer learning community.
- While this program is not a substitute for professional training, it offers a space to gain insight into diverse perspectives, share knowledge to empower others, and collaborate on bridging PFA with specialized care.
Our commitments
In order to participate, we will ask you to honor the following commitments.
1. Child safeguarding
You will be asked to confirm your agreement to child safeguarding principles in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the principles and values of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the European Union (EU).
2. Confidentiality and safety
We trust each other in order to share and learn together.
Some participants may have legitimate concerns for their confidentiality or safety.
We will ask you to commit to respecting confidentiality. This means that you will not name individuals, organizations, or countries when sharing information.
3. Professional duties and obligations
You will also be required to fully respect and abide by any regulations, restrictions, and other requirements of your employer or government.
Code of Conduct
Participants in the Foundation’s programmes are required to adhere to a strict Code of Conduct.
Violation of the Code of Conduct may result in removal from the programme, loss of certification (including previous certifications), and notification of your employer.
We consider integrity to be the foundation of successful collaboration. We therefore consider honesty - in the representation of our work and in our interactions - to be the foundation of our community.
Members of our community of Scholars are required to commit to producing work that meets the highest ethical, scientific, and intellectual standards, including accurate attribution of sources, appropriate collection and use of data, and transparent acknowledgement of the contributions of others to their ideas, discoveries, interpretations, and conclusions.
Cheating on work or projects, plagiarizing or presenting someone else’s ideas or language as one’s own, falsifying data, or any other instances of dishonesty violate the norms of our community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there certification for PFA Connect?
What activities are available?
Can I participate in my own language?
Do I need training in Psychological First Aid (PFA)?
About this project
In May 2022, with the support of the European Commission’s Directorate General For Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the Ukrainian Red Cross and 27 other European Red Cross Societies, launched the project “Provision of quality and timely psychological first aid to people affected by Ukraine crisis in impacted countries” supported by the EU4Health programme.
Funded by the EU’s EU4Health programme, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is collaborating with The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) to provide online peer learning opportunities.
About The Geneva Learning Foundation
The Geneva Learning Foundation is a Swiss non-profit with the mission to research and develop new ways to learn and lead in the face of critical threats to our societies.
About the IFRC
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network. Our secretariat supports local Red Cross and Red Crescent action in more than 191 countries, bringing together more than 16 million volunteers for the good of humanity.
Funded by the European Union
This project is supported by the EU4Health programme.
This project is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of TGLF and IFRC, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.