World Mental Health Day: YKP Access to Services through the Robert Carr Fund (Youth LEAD Mongolia)
Youth LEAD Mongolia's Mental Health Activities: Socio-Psychological LGBTQ+ Friendly Advice and Free Therapy Sessions
Youth LEAD Mongolia (YLM) is a national youth-led NGO that advocates for the empowerment, health, and wellbeing of Young Key Populations. Since their establishment in 2014, they have implemented various projects through small grants. Youth LEAD Mongolia is the only youth-led NGO that works for young key populations of Mongolia, aging between 16 and 25.
Through this year’s Youth LEAD RCF Small Grants Programme, one of their activities centered around addressing the psychological needs of young LGBTQI+ persons following their 2020 socio-psychological counseling project supported by Youth LEAD under the Being LGBTI in Asia Small Grants Programme.
YLM noted that especially during the pandemic, Mongolia, an LGBTQ+ discriminative country, addressing the urgent psychological issues faced by LGBTIQ+ youth was vital. For this activity, they invited the health program manager of the LGBT center of Mongolia for their video sessions. Several LGBTIQ+ young persons expressed their gratitude and requested the continuation of this type of information through YLM social media channels.
Some examples of socio-psychological advice are seen in the video below. They give positive reinforcement about love, friendship, and battling discrimination. The videos also serve as an FAQ for LGBTIQ+ youth.
In addition, under the Youth LEAD RCF YKP Emergency Relief Fund Phase III, YLM expanded the 2020 psycho-psychological counseling project to reach 30 people in collaboration with Outright Action International. Each individual was able to receive multiple therapy sessions for this round of the project. YLM hired LGBTIQ specialized/friendly therapists who are passionate about helping the community.
Edited by: Anudari Anar, Project manager (YLM); Munkh-Erdene Davaajav, Coordinator (YLM); Vanessa Monley, Programme Officer, Youth LEAD.