ERICE (Empowerment and Resilience in Children Everywhere) is a partnership of Israeli and Palestinian child mental health professionals that works to promote child and family wellbeing throughout Israel and Palestine. The ERICE initiative was begun in June of 2004 at the Jerusalem Cinematheque by Drs. Ruth Feldman, James F. Leckman, and Shafiq Masalha. Professor Ernesto Caffo and Dr. Leckman then organized the first meeting of ERICE, which was held in the Italian Embassy in Berlin as an adjunct to a meeting of the 2004 IACAPAP Congress.
Created by Foundation Child and IACAPAP (International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions), the group firstly met in Berlin (Italian Embassy) in 2004. The Congress goal was to define the first joint projects among Israeli and Palestinian professionals. To this end, the Program foresaw moments of reflection on theoretical and intervention models and background sharing moments, with the purpose of fostering an environment of exchange.
The second meeting took place in Erice (Sicily, Italy) in 2005. The group took its name after the place but more importantly as acronym of its core objective (Empowerment and Resilience in Children Everywhere): promoting the rights of children and bring them back to a normal life through the necessary cares, everywhere they live and apart from their citizenship.
In 2006, the group met again in Rome to discuss the first results emerging from the researche. The overall picture was really worrying: research underlined that children exposed to conflict – Israeli, Palestinian or Arabic-Israeli – presented a severe compromising of their psychological well- being.
In 2007 the group met in Florence (Italy) during the XIII European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP) congress. On that occasion, the results of the ERICE group’s research were presented to an international audience of child psychiatrists during a major symposium.
The group took part in the launch of the Early Childhood Peace Consortium in August 2013 at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, Italy. Following the launch of the Consortium, an ERICE breakout session was held in September 2013. Central to both the expanded ERICE meeting and the Early Peace Consortium is the hypothesis that early parent-child training programmes that embrace love and forgiveness can lead to greater peace at home, in the local community, within national societies and around the world.
ERICE held a scientific conference on 3 June 2015, in Tel Aviv, Israel. The conference consisted of three main parts. The first addressed the theoretical and ideological aspects, and concentrated on fostering cooperation between Jewish, Arab and Palestinian mental health professionals. The second focused on the need to promote epidemiological studies, while the third was dedicated to Early Childhood Based research and interventions.
The ERICE group is currently working on an emergency project aimed helping children and families affected by the conflict in Gaza. Since its foundation, ERICE has organized several International and Regional Meetings that have promoted a fruitful dialogue, unique of its kind. This has allowed participants to share reflections and good practices through presentations and workshops. To date, six pilot projects have been funded:
Each of these projects shows promise, but none are fully funded. With additional funding, several of the ERICE projects can be expanded, potentially benefiting a large number of Israeli and Palestinian children. The work of the ERICE group has been facilitated by two external advisors: James F. Leckman, M.D., Child Study Center Yale University; and Ernesto Caffo, M.D., current President of Foundation Child. These advisors are responsible for the external review of all project proposals based on the following criteria: 1. the likelihood of a positive impact for Palestinian and Israeli children; 2. a joint effort involving both Israeli and Palestinian professionals; 3. feasibility; 4. evidence of capacity building; 5. a commitment to continuity of care; 6. evidence of loving kindness and good intentions; and 7. the likelihood that no harm will occur.
Empowerment and Resilience in Children Everywhere (ERICE) NGO is devoted to the promotion of children’s rights and the protection of the right to health. The ERICE group represents a think tank for research and intervention, aimed at protecting children and adolescents affected by the devastating effects of war, out from the logic of competition. The attention is all focused on children and adolescents living in conflict areas, promoting a preventive and supportive action that protects their mental health as fundamental to a future of peace.
The Association intends to establish intervention projects to improve children’s mental and physical health. The ERICE group aims at developing new systems of child mental health care and enhances existing approaches to train professionals such as general practitioners, nurses, teachers, psychologists and psychiatrists. The Association operates primarily in the socio-medical, psychological, social and pedagogical fields, as well as any other form of assistance and relief to children who are living in disadvantaged and/or emergency conditions.
ERICE is supported by partner organisations and institutions such as Fondazione Child, Yale University and UNICEF.
In September 2015, ERICE was formally recognised as Onlus (not for-profit organisation).