The Japanese Government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sri Lanka handed over the newly revamped and equipped Psychosocial Centre at Kallady, Batticaloa on Thursday (12). This milestone marks a significant step forward in enhancing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services for families, adolescents, and communities in the region.
The handover ceremony was attended by Batticaloa District Secretary J. J. Muraleetharan, Regional Directorate of Health Services – Batticaloa Director Dr. Muraleesaran, UNFPA Sri Lanka Representative Kunle Adeniyi and Sri Lanka Red Cross, Senior Vice President Jagath Abeysinghe among others.
This initiative addressed critical mental health needs of women, adolescents and other populations in need. The upgraded center will provide safe, welcoming, and private spaces for counselling, training and community support programmes for women and girls, youth and vulnerable populations. The renovation, which focused on structural and functional gaps for delivering quality mental health care, was made possible with a total investment of US$ 12,198, funded by Japan, while Sri Lanka Red Cross provided support as the implementing partner on the ground. The renovation also saw the provision of furniture and other essential equipment to optimise service delivery.
In meeting the growing needs for mental health services, this upgraded facility will address several key challenges faced by the community in accessing essential support. The renovation has paved the way for upgrading the deteriorated infrastructure to create a safe and conducive environment for both clients and staff, introducing adolescent-friendly spaces and family counseling rooms to meet the needs of diverse clients, and incorporating advanced tools and techniques to improve service delivery and efficiency.
The center is operated by a multidisciplinary team, including, mental health medical officers, psychologists, and social workers, as well as administrative and support staff, to provide critical services such as family counselling, adolescent mental health support, crisis intervention and community training programmes.
In the past year, the center has made remarkable strides, such as conducting over 680 counseling sessions for families and adolescents, training more than 200 teachers and 200 adolescents in mental health awareness and psychosocial interventions and referring numerous cases of substance abuse and gender-based violence for specialised care.
