Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a pilot project in response to the immense need for psychosocial aid among the one million asylum seekers currently living in Germany.

In March, in collaboration with staff from St Josef hospital in Schweinfurt, Bavaria, MSF started to offer peer counselling to asylum seekers in the reception centre. Most of the were from Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria and other war-torn countries.

This project introduced MSF's way of working with psychsosocial counsellors to the care system for asylum seekers in Germany. Three counsellors, former refugees from Somalia, Syria and Iran, are helping newly arrived asylum seekers in their mother tongue, under the guidance and supervision of clinical psychologists.

The project was handed over to St Josef hospital at the end of the year. MSF remains committed to advocating for similar projects in other regions and is ready to support them with its experience and know-how.