Home-based: MHPSS Training Consultant (18 working days) - Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, an advocate

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Global priorities show increased need for attention to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), particularly for girls, boys, women and men in communities affected by emergencies and other adversities (e.g., torture, war, intimate partner violence, poverty, malnutrition, amongst others). Some individuals will develop mental health symptoms in the long term (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression) and others will be impacted in less visible ways. While most people are resilient to adversity, best estimates suggest that on, average, 22% of adults report symptoms consistent with mental disorders if they have experienced conflict in previous 10 years. Estimates are unclear for children and adolescents, but likely to be similar. Nonetheless, millions of people, notably those in low resource settings, do not receive evidence-based mental health treatment. Poor mental health can impair individuals’ functioning, influence children’s behavior, and create barriers to accessing education, interfere with engagement in work or work productivity, and hinder one’s ability to engage in social or community functions. Therefore, integrating MHPSS services across sectors has been essential, but has left a remaining question on the quality of the training and the competency of the workforce. Making certain that the MHPSS workforce across sectors such as education, protection and health are able to attend to these challenges can ensure that individuals with impaired function will have access to effective evidence based MHPSS interventions. Access to a competent and skillful workforce will aid the community as well.

Most people with mental health conditions around the world do not receive effective care. Among people living with depression, only 1 in 5 persons in high-income countries and 1 in 27 in lower-middle-income countries receive minimally adequate treatment, in part due to an insufficient number of workers trained in mental health care. One way to address access to care is to expand psychological and psychosocial support services delivered by diverse cadres in different settings. With appropriate training and supervision, professionals and non-professionals can provide support and effective help. Effective, evidence-based MHPSS and interventions used by non-specialist mental health and psychosocial support helpers to assist girls, boys, women, and men are well established. However, ensuring, at scale, the quality of helper implementation across sectors is lacking.

The Global Course on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children and Caregivers in Adversity has been developed to strengthen basic MHPSS knowledge and skills of frontline staff and volunteers working with children and caregivers in emergency settings. The global course was developed by the MHPSS Collaborative with funding from UNICEF and includes 36 hours of course content delivered across five modules. The course was piloted in Uganda and Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Africa Psychosocial Support Institute (APSSI), with support from the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiatives (REPSSI) using a hybrid in-person and virtual instruction modality.

UNICEF will adapt the curriculum for use in the Europe and Central Asia region, with focus on the Ukraine emergency response as well as MHPSS programming more broadly. An online training will then be provided at regional level for UNICEF country offices and refugee response offices, as well as implementing partners and other agencies. The purpose of the MHPSS Training Consultant role is to adapt the Global course to the ECAR context and to conduct remote training for UNICEF, partners, and other agencies throughout the region to strengthen delivery of safe and effective MHPSS services to caregivers and children. The Consultant will also conduct monitoring and evaluation of the training and compose a lessons learned report summarizing adaptations made, training outcomes, and lessons learned for future implementation.

Scope of Work

• The consultant will adapt the Global Course on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children and Caregivers in Adversity for the Europe and Central Asia context, with a focus on the Ukraine emergency response.
• The consultant will facilitate a regional online training on Global Course on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children and Caregivers in Adversity for UNICEF country offices and refugee response offices, implementing partners, and other agencies in Europe and Central Asia Region. The training will entail approximately 5 full days. It can be conducted with support of UNICEF MHPSS focal points in country, and/or with associates identified by the trainer.
• The consultant will develop a monitoring and evaluation plan for the training (e.g., participant knowledge assessment; satisfaction/feedback protocol) and develop a training evaluation and lessons learned report detailing learning for future training in the Global Course on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children and Caregivers in Adversity.
• The MHPSS Training Consultant will work closely with the Regional MHPSS Specialist for ECARO (Child Protection section) as well as with the MHPSS Specialist based in NYHQ in the MHPSS unit within the Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Section.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone******Deliverables / Outputs******Timeline / DeadlineThe MHPSS Training Consultant will adapt the existing Global Course curriculum and training materials for the ECAR context and develop monitoring and evaluation materials, with input and approval provided by the UNICEF Regional MHPSS Specialist, Child Protection, ECARO• Development of adapted curriculum8 working days• Development of adapted training materials• Development of adapted training monitoring and evaluation materialsPrepare and facilitate remote training on the Global Course for the ECA region• Support training logistics (scheduling, interpretation/translation) in collaboration with UNICEF Regional MHPSS Specialist7 working days• 36 hours of training provided on Global Course curriculumDevelop an Evaluation and Lessons Learned report summarizing training adaptations, outcomes, and lessons learned for future implementation• Development of evaluation and training report3 working daysEstimated Duration of the Contract

18 working days (between August and October 2023)

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The assignment will be home-based with no travel foreseen.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) in your application based on 18 working days to undertake this assignment.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Masters in Clinical Psychology or Child Protection in Humanitarian Action.
• A minimum of 8 years of experience in Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in development and humanitarian contexts.
• Expert knowledge of MHPSS for children and caregivers in adversity.
• Experience (remote and in-country) supporting a diverse range of UN agencies, NGOs (international and local), academic institutions, governments in the area of MHPSS, child protection, health, education, etc.
• Strong knowledge of MHPSS in the Europe and Central Asia context, including the Ukraine emergency response.
• Strong knowledge in adapting training content to context and facilitating training, including remote training within the area of MHPSS for children in caregivers (for development and emergencies settings).
• Proficiency in English is a requirement. Ukrainian and/or Russian is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and Financial Proposal in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.