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Forcibly displaced people
WHO - European Region logo

Arts, Mental Health, and Forced Displacement

This brief was produced by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. It provides a rapid review of existing evidence surrounding the arts and mental wellbeing for forcibly displaced people; provides case examples of arts interventions working at these intersections; and presents policy considerations.

Categories

Mental Health

Partners

Co-funded by the European Union

Download Policy Brief

Arts and Health

Supporting the mental well-being of forcibly displaced people

Policy Brief (PDF - 2 MB)

Related Case Studies

Introduction

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that in 2021 global forced displacement likely exceeded 84 million, a sharp increase from the 82.4 million reported at the end of 2020. As a result of the war in Ukraine, so far more than 4.8 million people are believed to have fled the country, while over 7.1 million more people remaining in the country are thought to be displaced from their homes. Around the world, people who are displaced because of natural disasters, persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations have invariably experienced significant loss, physical hardships, and other stressors that can result in psychological distress. 

The UN’s Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings outlines many important ways that governments and other relevant actors can support the mental health and wellbeing of forcibly displaced people. Access to and engagement with the arts is included in this framework of relevant activities to improve health and wellbeing, promoting multiple different psychological, behavioural, and social processes. For example, arts activities can improve self-confidence, promote healthy behaviours as well as social inclusion and, importantly, offer hope.

Key Points

  • Globally, an estimated 84 million people were forcibly displaced in 2021. Up to and including the first half of 2022, more than 11.9 million people have had to leave their homes because of the war in Ukraine alone
  • Arts activities can play a role in psychological, behavioural and social processes that are linked to improved mental wellbeing, such as supporting the preservation of personal identity, heritage, and experience
  • Engagement in arts activities can positively impact forcibly displaced people, as well as their host communities, by promoting social inclusion, social cohesion, social acceptance, and belonging
  • Artistic expression is an indicator of and a contributor to vibrant, resilient, and healthy societies. Investment in the arts means investment in the wellbeing and social cohesion of both forcibly displaced people and their host communities

Policy Considerations

The following considerations are relevant to everyone involved in responding to humanitarian crises, including health workers, policy-makers, relief workers, cultural organizations, arts therapists, and artists:

  • Investment in the arts means investment in improving social integration and cohesion, and can contribute to mental wellbeing for all
  • Arts and cultural activities can be an important part of an organized mental health and psychosocial support response
  • Cultural and community assets can play an important role in supporting the health and wellbeing of forcibly displaced people
  • Artistic methods and practices can contribute to skill-building among those involved in humanitarian responses

Insights

  • Img

When you don’t have anything to do, when there’s no hope on the horizon, you lose your creative abilities. But with the theatre group, we became creative again. We stopped being so depressed, because we would think ahead to the next meeting, and talk about what we would create. The theatre gave us a few hours of freedom. It changed our mental health and our physical health

Noureldin Musa

Asylum seeker from Darfur, Sudan

Related

Jameel Arts Health Lab 7

Case Study

Yazidi Cultural Archives

The Yazidi Cultural Archives project aimed to improve the mental health of female Yazidi survivors through participation in a series of artist-led workshops and a multi-media digital archive of Yazidi cultural heritage at risk.

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Event

Healing Arts Paris

Opening with a major Christie's photography sale to fund arts and mental health projects, Healing Arts Paris included discussions about wellbeing during COVID-19, and launched a major project for Yazidi cultural preservation.

Date

9 June 2021 – 26 October 2022

Location

Paris


Learn more about our Research, Outreach and Policy Insights

Research

Discover how the Lab is advancing the science and evidence of how the arts impact health

Learn More

Outreach

Explore the Lab’s events, community building and global Healing Arts campaign

Learn More

Policy Insights

Delve into policy briefs that support informed decision-making about arts and health

Learn More