At the WPA Congress in Berlin 2017 the activities of the Section were reviewed and several suggestions made. For instance, the possibility that members provide information about their expertise in different fields in order to help institutions, persons, or states to cope with stressful or conflictual situations, a greater involvement with social science matters and research and a more intense interaction among members of CMCR Section. The newly elected officers will disseminate activities relevant to the field and continue organizing symposia and workshops around the world. To meet this goal, all Section members and sympathizers are requested to send their views and ideas for inclusion in the next series of activities.

The section had an in-depth discussion on its activities and future plans at the WPA World Congress in Madrid (2014). The section noted interest expressed by new members to pursue different elements of conflict management and conflict resolution. Following appointment of the current chairperson and co-chair (Prof Michael Starke) and the new Secretary (Elsa Gewehr) we tabulated the following themes as worthy of pursuit in future WPA Regional, International and World Congress Forums:

• Rethinking conflict management and conflict resolution by having specific workshops with other associated sections such as the sections on Spirituality and Mental Health; Education; Culture and Psychiatry; Psychiatry in Developing countries and others

• Task members to identify and summarize for further discussion, pockets of conflict in various countries. This will help in delineating the sources of conflict and assessing the capacity of WPA to either assist or comment on how best to support colleagues in these countries. Furthermore, the bigger question was whether WPA can influence the direction such conflicts take by generating discourse with various government leaders

• In collaboration with other sections, add to all the sections that intervene in Disaster management by way developing training manuals and providing hands on support to affected communities and colleagues where possible.

• Prof M Starke, the chairperson with other section members has pursued the theme of “Workplace Stress” with various presentations analyzing the nature of the stress; gender distribution and intervention strategies.

• With guidance from Prof Eliot Sorel, the section has considered a bulletin that will record the various activities and also invited contributions from colleagues who may not necessarily be section members.

• Symposiums on Migration and access to care and Public Mental Health generally were pursued at the WPA 2015 Congress in Budapest. This also included a discourse on Gender-based violence and empowerment of women.

The section will strive to work in collaboration with other sections to enhance the Educational efforts of WPA and explore territories that may offer suggestions to reduction of morbidity due to mental illness in various communities of the world. The section will also make inputs at “Global Mental Health Forums “of other associations that are affiliated or linked to the WPA such as the APA and others in Asia and Africa.fo