Members

Camhsan Network

Arun Kunwar
arunkunwar@yahoo.com
MD
KOICH
The Chair, CAMSHAN
Dr. Arun Raj Kunwar, MBBS (India), M.D. Psychiatry (Syracuse, NY), MD Psychiatry, Fellowship Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Syracuse, NY, USA), The Chair, CAMSHAN World Health Awardee2020 (The Swiss Foundation for World Health / World Health Organization) Former President of the Psychiatrics’ Association of Nepal Dr. Kunwar is the Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Kanti Children’s Hospital, and Team Leader of CWIN Nepal’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Program.
Dr. Kunwar is the first child and adolescent psychiatrist in Nepal and pioneered the field of child and adolescent psychiatry in Nepal. He along with CWIN and partners established the first Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic in Nepal.
Dr. Kunwar has extensively worked with schools/ community/ NGOs/ MOHP/Government of Nepal to develop and implement community-based preventive and promotional MH programs for C&As. Few notable ones are foll0wing:
  • Child and Adolescent Community Care Package (mhGAP for C&A) approved by MOHP and being rolled out in Province 2 and Karnali Province
  • Management of COVID related stress for C&A: direct reach to >100,000 C&As and care givers
  • Developing and adopting Life Skills Education for Nepal –ongoing
  • Dr Kunwar was awarded The World Health Award by The Swiss Foundation for World Health/World Health Organization in 2020 for “Outstanding Achievement in the field of Mental Health Care”.

Gunjan Dhonju

gunjanb2@gmail.com
MBBS, MD Psychiatry, Post Doctoral Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Kanti Children’s Hospital/ Kathmandu Institute of Child Health (KIOCH)
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

Dr. Gunjan Dhonju is a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Kathmandu, affiliated with Kanti Children’s Hospital. He serves as a consultant for KIOCH for CAMHSAN. He holds an MD in Psychiatry along with a post-doctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry. Currently, he holds the position of General Secretary at the CAMHSAN Secretariat.

Dr. Dhonju has extensive experience in both national and international projects focused on child and adolescent mental health (CAMH). He played a pivotal role in developing the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Training Manual for Doctors, Nurses, and Paramedics for the Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal, which has received government endorsement and implementation nationwide.

He also contributed to the development and implementation of an intervention addressing COVID-19-related stress among children, adolescents, parents, teachers, and caregivers in Nepal, benefiting approximately 100,000 individuals. Additionally, he was involved in creating training modules for School Nurses to support the mental health of children and adolescents in schools post-COVID-19, supported by the WHO and Ministry of Health, Government of Nepal.

Furthermore, Dr. Dhonju has contributed to the development of the WHO/UNICEF Helping Adolescent Thrive Toolkit and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) materials. His expertise extends to consultancy roles with UNICEF, WHO, Government of Nepal, and NGOs such as CWIN Nepal, TPO Nepal, and CMC Nepal, where he has facilitated various national and international trainings and workshops in CAMH.