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Trauma-Informed Approaches to Development Checklist .

Checklist | October 15, 2020

The Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) to Development Checklist is designed to help projects more thoughtfully integrate trauma in their project design and implementation across all sectors by detailing foundational principles and outlining practical TIA steps projects can take all stages of implementation.

Global mental health experts recognize that traumatic stress can dramatically affect progress toward the same outcomes Chemonics projects work toward each day, including educational achievement, economic productivity, social cohesion, positive communal relations, and overall health and wellbeing. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these sources of trauma, whether it be armed conflict, natural disasters, political upheaval, or poverty. To help Chemonics projects and the international development community strengthen their response to individual and community trauma, we have developed the Trauma-Informed Approaches to Development Checklist. This resource offers tangible ideas, grounded in academic and clinical research as well as the real-world experience of ongoing programs, for projects to ensure their programming is trauma-sensitive at all stages of implementation.

Authored by the Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) Working Group at Chemonics International: India Boland, Garrett Koelsch, Nicole Patierno, the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Practice, and the Peace, Stability, and Transition Practice. Many thanks to our contributors: Bridget Burke, Aliya Souhaid, Samantha Law, and Kaelan Sullivan.