The MHPSS approach is supported by a number of inter-agency guidelines and standards. They are based on a consensus around good practice in the MHPSS field. The inter-agency resources and guidelines which are particularly useful when working with a CB-MHPSS approach are:
.jpg?doprocessing=1&ci=53%2c45%2c498%2c280&rc=249%2c176&w=936&ra=1.6&c=85)
IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
These guidelines were developed in 2007 and established a consensus around good practice in MHPSS. Although they are old, and many resources have been developed since, they still form a solid foundation for the field. The MHPSS core principles are introduced here, and there are action sheets to guide minimum responses in different areas of MHPSS services and activities.
IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
MHPSS Minimum Service Package (and associated tools and resources)
This resource was produced in 2020 and since then further resources have been developed, including an assessment toolkit and indicator bank. The MHPSS MSP builds on the IASC MHPSS Guidelines (2007), and tries to operationalise the guidance in a more concrete and up-to-date way. It includes guidance on how to integrate MHPSS into a wide variety of different sectors, and includes a costing tool for MHPSS activities.
The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Minimum Service Package
Faith-sensitive MHPSS Guidance
This resource builds on the 2007 IASC MHPSS Guidelines, and gives guidance on how each of the action areas in the MHPSS Guidelines can be implemented in a faith-sensitive way. It was developed collaboratively by LWF and Islamic Relief, with support from Act Church of Sweden (amongst others) and is designed for use by both faith-based and secular humanitarian organisations.
Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for MHPSS in Emergency Settings
Organisations can often find it difficult to demonstrate the value of MHPSS activities, especially when these activities are integrated into programmes in other sectors (e.g. education, livelihoods). In response, the IASC MHPSS Reference Group developed this resource, which gives guidance on MHPSS monitoring and evaluation and presents a consensus-based set of outcomes and indicators that are applicable to MHPSS activities. It also includes some recommended qualitative and quantitative tools to assess change in key areas of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. It is helpful to look at this resource alongside the MSP Indicator Bank.
Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for MHPSS in Emergency Settings
MHPSS Advocacy guidance
The inter-agency MHPSS advocacy guidance was developed in 2025 in response to the funding cuts in the humanitarian field. It presents key messages to communicate around MHPSS, and evidence to support these. It is a very helpful document, and is accompanied by templates and key talking points around MHPSS.
Community-based approaches to MHPSS: a guidance note
In 2019 the IASC MHPSS Reference Group developed this short document to give an overview for MHPSS actors and others on what the community based MHPSS is and how it looks in practice.
ACT Alliance MHPSS Guiding Principles
The ACT Alliance MHPSS Guiding Principles were originally developed by the ACT Psychosocial Support Working Group in 2011 and were updated by the ACT Global PS CoP in 2025. The document has two purposes:
1. To ensure that all relief aid undertaken by ACT members is MHPSS-sensitive, and
2. To assist ACT members providing MHPSS services to meet minimum interagency standards.
The guiding principles outlined in the document uphold the MHPSS minimum quality standards and represent best interagency practices in this area. They are based on human rights principles, Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), gender equality, understanding and empowerment. Faith is at the heart of the ACT Alliance´s international engagement, and as such, focus is given on ensuring faith-sensitivity across MHPSS service provision.
The document is structured as follows: The first section outlines key definitions, including an overview of faith-sensitive MHPSS, and the conceptual framework used to categorise different MHPSS services. The second section details the core MHPSS principles, as per IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings1. The final section summarises minimum operating standards across different MHPSS activities and provides references to supporting resources.