On February 27 and 28, the training “Psychological first aid and helpline” was held in Belgrade. The training covered the following topics: trauma-informed helplines; what works well in the helplines and what can be done to make them better; introducing appreciative inquiry; PFA with challenging calls such as talking with suicidal callers; simple supervision models; self-care, personal and organizational barriers to self-care practices.

The training was delivered by Ea Suzanne Akasha, representative of the Psychosocial Support Reference Centre of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Nataša Todorović and Dr. Milutin Vračević from the Red Cross of Serbia and Sanja Pupačić, representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from Sarajevo. The training was implemented as part of the project “Strengthening the resilience of older persons and persons with disabilities during COVID-19 crisis and future disasters” supported by the European Union, Austrian Development Agency and the Austrian Red Cross.

The training participants were project partners from the Western Balkans region who were in charge of the psychosocial support component of the project, as well as representatives of local organizations of the Red Cross of Serbia, which implement the project locally. The training was also a good opportunity to exchange experience and to discuss the lessons learned.