International Individual consultancy to support development of professional standards for school psychologists with UNICEF in Uzbekistan

Contract

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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.

Background

In Uzbekistan, the national authorities have included mental health in the sphere of public health, because there are clear indicators that mental health is a serious public health problem in the country. The recent trends in suicide mortality rates among adolescents show a concerning increasing trend in self - harm and suicide rates. The suicide mortality rate in 2019 was 9,8 for adolescents aged 10-19 years per 100.000 relevant population. The comprehensive study of adolescents’ mental health and psychosocial wellbeing at schools, found a concerning number of students that had moderate to extremely severe anxiety (15.4 per cent) and depression (9.8 per cent). Almost 1 out of 10 students suffered from moderate to extremely severe depression and even more from moderate to extreme anxiety. These mental health disorders adversely affect the emotional wellbeing, social functioning and academic achievement of children and young people. Consequently, there is a compelling need for specialized psycho-social intervention and support for children and adolescents in schools.

Besides that, the study revealed 22 per cent of students who said that they had some problems during the last month, but they did not feel they needed professional help. On the other hand, seven per cent of them needed professional help but they didn’t ask for it. Meanwhile, among trusted persons to ask for help in different life situations school psychologists are ranked low in the list (17%) after parents (77%), friends (55%) and other relatives (21%).

As it was claimed by school psychologists, there are several challenges in their work that make it complicated and problematic to inform all students about their role in the school, and furthermore to fulfill their role sufficiently. Among them high workload, lack of dedicated classroom hours for psychologists, work in the community (Makhalla), a lot of paperwork, lack of diagnostic tools, an appropriate office and a low salary were on top of the list. The lack of professional standards for school psychologists makes it challenging to ensure that they (will) have the appropriate qualification, competence and experience now and in the future.

In the past couple of years Government of Uzbekistan has implemented several important steps to transform the psychological service system in public education. The draft Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers commits the Ministry of Public Education to revise the qualification requirements and develop professional standards for psychologists.

The purpose of this assignment is to support the Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan in development of professional standards for school psychologists.

Objectives of the assignment:

More specifically, the consultancy will need to:

• Review and assess existent education system of psychologists, pre- and in-service curricula, and qualification requirements and standards for school psychologists in Uzbekistan;
• Lead the process of development of professional standards for psychologists through guidance of the national team.

Timeline & Deliverables

This consultancy is expected to be carried out within 20 working days starting from 17 October 2022 and ending 15 December 2022. Delivery dates (based on the work plan).

Activity & Deliverable

1. Desk review of Uzbekistan’s education system of psychologists, pre- and in-service curricula, and qualification requirements and standards for school psychologists, review of national legislation reflecting psychologists’ professional standards and qualification requirements, and other relevant documents - Inception report - 5 working days

2. Development of professional standards for psychologists at schools in close cooperation with national partners. The professional standards should include but not limited to identification of key broad domains, generic and specific competencies standards and indicators used for assessment - Professional Standards - 10 working days

3. Development of a guide for practitioners so that school psychologists have standardized simple screening tools and referral protocols to identify signs of distress, anxiety, depression, adverse childhood experience and approaches to address them, including referral and multidisciplinary response with regular follow-up actions - A guide for practitioners - 5 working days

Management

It is expected that this work will be conducted by international consultant under the direct supervision of UNICEF Health Officer (Adolescents).

Resource requirements:

This assignment will be fully funded through RR. Payment will be done in one installment with no advance payment envisioned.

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

Qualification and Experience • Post graduate degree in Psychology, Psychiatry, Social Work, or other relevant discipline(s). Candidates with doctorate level degrees will be an asset. • At least ten years of solid professional work experience at the national and international levels with focus on adolescent mental health and psychosocial wellbeing analysis.

Knowledge and Skills • Demonstrated ability to produce high quality analytical reports. • Understanding of Uzbekistan context in relation to mental health and/or education is an asset.

Competencies • Knowledge and experience of UNICEF programmes of cooperation and the human rights-based approach to programming. Prior experience working with UN/UNICEF will be an asset.

Languages • Excellent writing skills in English language. Knowledge of Russian would be an advantage.

Procedures and Working Conditions

UNICEF will reserve copy right of all developed materials and own primary data collected through this assignment. The materials cannot be published or disseminated without prior written permission of UNICEF. UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify materials produced at any time.

The consultant must be clearly identifying any potential ethical issues arising from the fulfillment of her/his tasks and duties in the framework of this assignment and ensure the s/he performs this assignment in a manner that does not expose UNICEF to any such risks.

Consultant which, will be selected by applying the best value for money principle, is expected to work independently and respond to feedback from supervisor in a timely and professional manner, to be result driven and to have the ability to work under pressure and meet required deadlines.

Reservations:

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if deliverable(s) incomplete, not finalized or for failure to meet deadlines. The contractor must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these terms of reference. UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors 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.

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:

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.