National Consultancy: Child Protection/Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Consultant, Armenia (6 months)

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, a champion

During the last week of September 2023, over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno Karabakh and arrived in Armenia. Overall, the number of refugees constitute almost 3 percent of the of the entire Armenian population, i.e., 1 in 30 people, while children are 4.3 in 100 which adds to the 36,000 refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people of all nationalities who were already present in the country.

Related to the situation it is important to emphasize the prolonged period, when the population of Armenians living in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh lived in a months-long situation that ICRC defined as critical with “lack of life-saving medication and essentials like hygiene products” food and others. During that time access to resources such as food, medical care, petrol, and electricity was reported as significantly limited. Due to the situation, arriving children of all ages and their families are extremely vulnerable to mental health and psychosocial distress. Immediate effects of the displacement crisis in Armenia became evident as refugees arrived, leaving behind their homes, properties and livelihoods. It is clear there is a high level of trauma among refugees and host communities, and the needs for humanitarian assistance and protection, especially for women and children, will remain and increase in the foreseeable future.

To ensure an appropriate and effective response to the emergency, the UNICEF Country Office in Armenia is therefore scaling up its Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPHA) component, and requires specialized technical support is required in the area of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), which is identified as a critical need in this emergency and is an institutional priority for the UN, and for UNICEF. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2018-2021 identifies MHPSS as a priority area for children, caregivers and parents and young people, building upon existing programming through child protection, education and health with a focus on addressing inequities related to gender, and disabilities.

Working under the leadership and supervision of the UNICEF Child Protection Specialist, the Consultant will support the UNICEF Country Office in Armenia, Child Protection (CP) team, and Child Protection Sub Working Group (CP SWG) members to develop a comprehensive multi-sectoral MHPSS response plan to strengthen MHPSS services and systems work in response to the current needs of the children and adolescents affected by the emergency (both refugees and from host communities), for subsequent implementation and coordination in the affected regions of Armenia.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision of the UNICEF CP Programme Specialist and with technical support from the UNICEF Armenia Access to Justice Officer and UNICEF Regional Office MHPSS Specialist, the CP/MHPSS Consultant is expected to produce specific deliverables that will contribute to high quality, effective and efficient implementation, and delivery of integrated CP/MHPSS interventions and services. The consultant will be responsible for MHPSS needs assessments, capacity building on MHPSS, support to effective coordination and quality assurance of MHPSS interventions with implementing partners and other relevant counterparts. CP/MHPSS Consultant will work closely with relevant members of the UNICEF Child Protection Team, UNICEF partners - including Government, iNGOs and NGOs, implementing partners and CP SWG members and coordinate with other key UNICEF sectors and UN Working Groups including Health, Education, Protection and Communications to support the strengthening of quality and coverage of MHPSS services and systems for affected children and their families. The CP/MHPSS Consultant will also contribute to fundraising, project planning and updating MHPSS strategy according to the needs of the beneficiaries as well as designing of MHPSS interventions. CP/MHPSS Consultant will conduct capacity building on MHPSS together with UNICEF CP colleagues and actively monitor and support implementing partners delivering.

Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Ensure professional approach and support to quality assurance of ongoing MHPSS interventions;
• Support CP team in the development and/or revision of projects and partnerships as necessary integrating relevant MHPSS elements;
• In collaboration with implementing partners’ professional staff, develop new MHPSS interventions to respond to the varying and complex needs of children and families;
• Provide expertise to MHPSS awareness raising and communication strategy and interventions;
• In consultation with key actors in the field contribute to mainstreaming MHPSS into other sectors so that it is an integrated part of the overall emergency response;
• Contribute to ongoing needs assessment, situational analysis and mapping exercises implemented by UNICEF and other actors especially taking into account MHPSS aspects;
• Consolidate available MHPSS resources and identify key areas for knowledge and skill building in the MHPSS sector and promote inter-agency capacity building initiatives;
• Assist in the content development and logistical coordination of training sessions, including scheduling, venue setup, and managing training materials for easy accessibility;
• Maintain detailed and accurate records of training sessions, participant attendance, and evaluations, and prepare reports on training outcomes for monitoring purposes;
• Travel within all Armenia regions in order to provide quality assurance, capacity building, liaison, and monitoring of UNICEF-supported MHPSS interventions;
• Prepare quality and comprehensive reports and briefings, when and if it is needed;
• Participate in Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence sub-working groups, Education and Protection working groups and de-brief the CP team;
• Contribute to the development of fund-raising proposals, concept notes, and sector reports (SitReps, ad hoc updates etc.);
• Contribute to Inter-agency coordination in order to have an overview of the MHPSS portfolio, complement proposed interventions and avoid overlapping

Work Assignments Overview

Deliverables/Outputs

Timeline

Contribution to the timely, efficient, and effective implementation and

quality assurance of ongoing partnerships

Participation in at least 12 monitoring and quality assurance missions for MHPSS interventions;

At least 12 trip reports submitted, with detailed information on progress, identified gaps, recommendations for improvement/revision of partnerships.

At least 2 missions and reports delivered per month

Contribution to the expansion of interventions in the field of MHPSS

Revision of MHPSS parts of ongoing partnership documents conducted;

Report on the results of the revision of the ongoing and new partnership documents

Revision of new partnership documents for MHPSS interventions conducted.

6 months

Contribution to capacity building and knowledge sharing interventions

At least 12 training sessions and events organized/facilitated, and accurate records of training sessions submitted;

Inventory of available resources prepared and recommendations on identified key areas for further capacity building;

6 monthly reports with detailed information on progress, identified gaps, recommendations for improvement/revision of partnerships

At least 2 training sessions per month delivered

Contribution to fund-raising efforts in the field of MHPSS

Contribution to at least three fund-raising proposals, concept notes, and sector reports

6 months

Contribution to inter-agency coordination and reporting efforts

of the CP team (with MHPSS focus)

At least 30 coordination meetings attended and briefings conducted

One needs’ assessment conducted;

Contribution to at least three situational analyses and one mapping, nine situation reports conducted

6 months

Terms of the application:

The deadline for the submission of applications is 10 December 2023. Applications should include:

• Cover letter;
• CV;
• Financial Proposal.

All qualified applicants should apply online, using the UNICEF E-Recruitment system and following the online application link.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in psychology; social sciences; international development; public health; humanitarian action or similar relevant discipline
• At least 3 years of experience in Child Protection/Mental Health and Psychosocial Support programming for children and families, including in humanitarian contexts;
• Good knowledge and understanding of humanitarian principles, child safeguarding measures and established international standards on mental health and psychosocial support for children in humanitarian settings;
• Strong organizational and facilitation skills whether face to face or remotely with diverse stakeholders;
• Experience conducting needs assessments, reviews and documentation of best practice;
• Experience of facilitating online and face to face workshops;
• Demonstrated experience in delivering similar scope of work;
• Comfortable to work independently while coordinating closely with different teams;
• Ability to listen and mediate differing opinions and approaches;
• Ability to travel;
• Full command of spoken and written English is essential, Russian language is an asset.

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.