Introduction
This report is on the findings of the focus group discussions and key informants’ interviews conducted on the causes of distress and suicidal ideation, the most affected population groups, the impact of SGBV and COVID-19 on Mental Health and Psychosocial (MHPSS) wellbeing of the Persons of Concern (PoCs) and the possible desired interventions to mitigate the suicidal tendencies among the PoCs
Purpose
The purpose of the survey is to have a better understanding of the factors leading to increased Mental Health and Psychosocial problems faced by persons of concern in the Imvepi and Rhino Camp Refugee Settlements. During protection monitoring, sseveral attempted and complete suicides were closely linked to SGBV. The purpose of the survey is to track the prevalence of suicide and attempted suicide cases as a direct recommendation from the SGBV Sub Working Group Meetings in both Rhino Camp and Imvepi Refugee Settlements. The recommendations arising from the discussions will help in designing appropriate preventive and response strategies for improved prevention and response to Mental Health and Psychological problems or needs of women, men, boys and girls.
Methodology
The survey employed two data collection methods that is Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KII). A total of 40 FGDs (27 in Rhino and 13 in Imvepi) were conducted separately in groups of 10 members comprising of Girls aged 12 to 17 years old, including those in school and out of school, Boys aged 12 to 17 years old, including those in school and out of school, Women aged 19 to 45 years old, Men aged 19 to 45 years old, Women aged 45+ years old, Men aged 45+ years old, Persons with Disabilities, Ethnic Minorities and Religious Minorities.
The FGDs were sampled using the stratified sampling method where the Settlements were divided into Zones that represented the strata. The selected strata were of homogeneous characteristics representative of the entire population. The number of FGDs conducted were proportionately estimated from the population of the Settlement and later the Zone to conclusively determine the number of groups per each stratum.
Twelve (12) KIIs (7 in Imvepi and 5 in Rhino) were drawn from among Psychiatric officer, Social workers, OPM Protection staff, Village Health Teams (VHTs), Refugee Welfare Committee (RWCs) and Police. Both purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to draw the Key Informants during the survey.
The total sample size of 412 respondents was reached during the survey, and this was slightly higher than the estimated target of 383 respondents drawn from a population 186,252 Persons of Concern (PoCs). This was considered on the argument that the bigger the sample size the higher the precision of the results.
The choice of sampling methods did not pose any limitation or challenge to the study, but rather enhanced representative sampling where the results of the study can be statistically inferenced at the 95% confidence interval and acknowledged as credible representation of the entire population.
