Afro-Berhan Suicide Prevention & Intervention Program

“Be A Life Line”

Mission

Afro-Berhan Suicide Prevention and Intervention program is a health project that gives East Africans, from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya affected by suicide a worldwide community empowered by education, research, and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.

Berhan is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. In one of the Eritrean and Ethiopian languages, Tigrigna, Berhan means light. The name Afro-Berhan was adopted to instill a sense of hope and light to life of those affected by suicide. It creates a culture that’s smart about mental health by engaging in the following core strategies:

  • Educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention
  • Advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention
  • Supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide
  • Conducting scientific research to document suicide among Refugees, especially those from Eritrea and East Africa.

Led by Dr. Yacob Tekie, located in Philadelphia, PA and aims to conduct programs and events nationally and internationally. 

Project Goals

Goal 1: Engage the public in awareness, advocacy and bold actions to save lives.

Strategies
  • Develop partnerships to expand education about mental health and suicide prevention in communities; nationally and internationally
  • Strengthen Project Berhan by developing and taking to scale programs through strategic partnerships
  • Amplify the voice of those affected by suicide by working to advance the projects legislative, regulatory and public policy agenda
  • Develop and execute a comprehensive national and international communications and marketing strategy to involve a more informed public concerning prevention

Goal 2: Reach more people at risk for suicide and survivors of suicide loss with effective programs.

Strategies

  • Establish strategic partnerships to grow the audience for our programs in the areas of loss and healing, lived experience, and those identified as at risk
  • Expand access to Project Berhan suicide prevention, loss and healing and lived experience programs through engagement with diverse populations
  • Improve the training of volunteers, individuals and community partners so they can better understand, support and implement the mission
  • Measure desired outcomes of initiatives and programs
  • Change behavior of clinicians and healthcare workers through linguistic and cultural competency to improve the identification and treatment of individuals at risk for suicide

Goal 3: Accelerate progress in suicide research to save more lives by driving discovery and innovation.

Strategies

  • Design and conduct research on suicide and suicide prevention that will have the most positive impact
  • Accelerate translation of research findings into real world suicide prevention solutions
  • Communicate research findings to both stakeholders and the public