People of OPORA: Interview with Peter Giesen

Peter Giesen works as the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for OPORA's Empatia program, a role he has held since nearly the organisation’s foundation. The Empatia program is OPORA's largest initiative, dedicated to improving the mental health of displaced individuals in the Netherlands.

Peter, your professional journey is truly remarkable, spanning multiple countries and diverse roles, yet consistently focused on aiding people in the most challenging situations. Could you share a bit about your background?

Peter Giesen:?After working for international humanitarian organisations in conflict areas in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, I found that there is a lot of work to do in achieving humanitarian standards for refugees and displaced people in the Netherlands.?

I live in a migrant community in Amsterdam and it is that community who inspired me to use my knowledge and experience in the service of people who have so much to offer to our society, but sadly face barriers to help my country with solving many of our problems.

How did you become involved with the Empatia program, and what has your experience with OPORA been like?

Peter Giesen: When the full scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, I worked for the Red Cross reception centre in the Amsterdam Humanitarian Service Point. I was at a meeting where Opora presented its research agenda and met with some people who were in the process of setting up the Empatia program and was asked to join the team to help out with the monitoring and evaluation system.?

Opora was very much in start up mode, which meant great opportunities for innovation and out of the box solutions. It also meant an opportunity to work? with a? team of incredibly smart, professional and migrants and displaced people, to ensure that policies actually serve the needs of their community.?

Throughout your time monitoring the program, has any particular data or trend personally resonated with you?

Peter Giesen: The most staggering data were those that indicate up to 40% of 100,000 displaced Ukrainians registered in the Netherlands, do currently not have access to the specialised mental health services they so badly need. Research has shown that if trauma and anxiety is not addressed as a matter of urgency this poses significant risks to the individuals concerned but also to their families, communities and Dutch society at large.?

What do you consider the most significant challenge in your role, and what is the greatest benefit?

Peter Giesen: We identified a number of barriers to access to mental health care in the Netherlands. These include decentralised policies, fragmented service delivery and cultural and language issues. Our monitoring data and evaluations show the importance of the Empatia program and the fact that we were able to place almost 100 Ukrainian mental health professionals in the system. Since last year, we also helped more than 3000 Ukrainian displaced people in the Netherlands in finding mental health support in partnership with organisations like LOOP and Vluchtelingen Werk.

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