Building Sustainable Capacity for Youth Mental Health in Botswana
Strenghtening Local Capacity Through Global Collaboration
A Partnership to Strengthen Youth Mental Health
From May 25 to June 1, Dr. Ohemaa Poku, our Center’s Director of Education and Training Initiatives and Co-investigator of the Safe Haven intervention, alongside Dr. Merrian J. Brooks, Research Director and Lead Pediatrician at the Botswana-UPenn Partnership, and Dr. Carla L. Bernstein, Pediatric Psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, led a series of professional development and skills-building workshops focused on youth mental health in Botswana.
Conducted in collaboration with UNICEF and Rotary International, this work reflects ongoing shared efforts to strengthen the capacity of a limited yet resilient youth mental health workforce in the sub-Saharan country and to improve support for young people facing a range of social, emotional, and mental health challenges.
Collaborative Learning in Action
The team had two days of workshops in Gaborone, Botswana, bringing mental health education directly to the community.
Friday was focused on mental health professionals and teachers who work with youth, with sessions on identifying pediatric mental health presentations like anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and substance use, plus the link between chronic illness and mental health, brief intervention strategies, and the importance of therapy and self-care. Saturday was the community workshop itself, welcoming parents and teens together for interactive sessions on what mental health is, myth-busting around therapy, help-seeking role plays, and building a personal coping and resilience toolkit, all anchored by mindfulness breaks and small group discussion throughout the day.
With over 100 participants in attendance, the team was encouraged by the enthusiasm, curiosity, and commitment demonstrated throughout the training, which underscored the growing momentum around youth mental health across Botswana and the broader African region, where strengthening mental health systems remains a key priority of the WHO Regional Office for Africa.
