National Consultant Mental Health and Psychosocial support (MHPSS), UNICEF Romania (part-time- home based), 191 days

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, mental health

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Scope of Work:

UNICEF has recently received a grant allowing for the implementation of an MPHSS-focused programme. The interventions forming the basis of the programme assume reduced mental health challenges among children and adolescents can be achieved by:

1. investing in primary prevention (universal & targeted) taking place in schools, families and the community (service providers)
2. raising the awareness/profile of the need to promote/protect mental health and well-being
3. facilitating the participation and empowerment of children and adolescent, with regards to making healthy decisions and building resilience about their mental health and
4. developing a functional pathway for the treatment and care of mental health issues among children and adolescents, which, importantly, can be scaled-up.

The above interventions are designed as operational research and will explore the issues among both the resident but also the refugee population. Mapping and engaging traditional and non-traditional partners, UNICEF will collaborate with the health, child protection, education (including on parenting aspects) sectors, and focus on a child-centered design, relying heavily on child participation. Innovative approaches and technologies will be used.

The expectation is to produce a functional learning model that allows the testing of various strategies and the documenting of the experience and that leads to solutions that can be scaled up.

Given the existing work of UNICEF at the level of integrated (basic and specialized) services and with children directly, the interventions will be incorporated in the overall approach that UNICEF Romania applies to second decade challenges of children and adolescents.

Under the supervision of the Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist for Local Implementation as well as in close cooperation with the UNICEF programme team, the consultant is expected to:

• Contribute to the implementation of UNICEF MHPSS interventions, development of concept notes and proposals for strategies to engage partners and develop tools

• Support MHPSS within the Refugee Response context

• Contribute to the design of and deliver capacity building actions such as specialized training and awareness raising initiatives (orientation seminars, mini-trainings, briefings, project reviews)

• Contribute to the development of MHPSS tools for Romania

• Review technical MHPSS resources and documents English-Romanian as needed

• Provide technical guidance to develop and implement different MHPSS action plans for catering to the needs of vulnerable population, focusing on children and women

• Promote a coordinated system-based approach to integrate MHPSS in health and related social sectors in coordination with relevant partners

• Promote a coordinated system-based approach to integrate MHPSS in health and related social sectors in coordination with relevant partners

• Continuously map the support mental health services and develop integrated psychosocial support in coordination with the initiatives of the national and international stakeholders involved

• Facilitate development of community-based Mental Health services and liaise with other psychological support services

• Participate with all stakeholders and partners to develop IEC materials and raise awareness on mental and psychosocial needs to counter stigma and discrimination; co-develop, in coordination with national stakeholders, surveillance and monitoring systems

• Provide technical advice to partner civil society organizations and other entities, as appropriate, on the issues related to instituting a robust MHPSS program

• Develop technical content for online applications developed under the UNICEF support

• Draft and review technical documents and information products as appropriate

General conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Deputy Representative and in close collaboration with the Programme Specialist for Local Implementation. Decision-making is limited to methods of work and prioritizing project activities in accordance with established weekly/monthly work-plans

• All the costs related to the travel inside Romania will be covered by the Romania UNICEF office based on a plan that will be agreed with the consultant

• Note: the consultant will sign a health statement prior to taking the assignment and the designation form will be completed

Work Assignments Overview/Deliverable

• Input to the draft methodology for mapping the partners and resources currently employed in MHPSS response in Bucharest bot for refugees and resident adolescent population -Report to be done by -End of month -12 working days
• Input to the draft methodology to do the needs assessment survey for MHPSS in Bucharest for both refugees and resident adolescent population-Report to be done by END Month 2- 12 working days
• Review and summarize the MHPSS resources available and used in Bucharest for both refugees and resident adolescent population. Report to be done by End Month 3-15 working days
• Input in the development of the tools to be used for early identification of MHPSS risks among adolescents. Report to be done by End Month 6- 40 working days
• Development of dedicated Information, Education and Communication products for the project. report to be done End Month 9-40 working days
• Liaise with national and international partners and institutions to ensure technical back-up in the development of instruments and tools to be used in the project- Report to be done Monthly-24 working days
• Participate in the MHPSS project activities to provide guidance, support and technical input- Report to be done Monthly -24 working days
• Provide training and support to CO staff to increase capacity to understand MHPSS issues and to design activities- Monthly- 24 working days
• Total consultancy days-191

Application procedure:

The application will be made in the dedicated UNICEF platform and it must include:

1. an Updated CV focused on the skills and experience requested by the current consultancy; match the requirements of the position;
2. List of similar projects

3. Financial Offer should indicate the GROSS amount in RON as per the attached template Financial Offer_mental health.xlsx

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

• Advanced university degree (Master) in psychology, medical sciences, public health, health system development, Social Science;
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience, working in mental health/clinical psychology/humanitarian work;
• Knowledge on the legal framework regulating the provision of mental health services in Romania is required;
• Good knowledge of and experience in using established inter-agency UN and EU standards and guidelines in MHPSS;
• Experience with mental health programs/mental health topics in international organizations is considered an asset;
• Qualified Psychotherapeutic background would be an asset;
• Operational experience in working with adolescents in schools, local and county public authorities in Romania during the last 3 years is an advantage;
• Practical experience working on the inclusion of hard-to-reach groups of children in Romania is an advantage;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and knowledge of social, psychological, and cultural context of Romania;
• Demonstrated ability to collect and collate quantitative and qualitative data;
• Accuracy and professionalism in research methodology;
• Fluency in Romanian and English is required; Excellent oral and written communication skills; demonstrated experience in report writing in English language;
• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines

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.