Psychosocial Support Officer

Volunteering

Overview

Support adolescents and women in safe spaces providing psychosocial assistance and life skills development.

You have:

• Expertise in providing psychosocial support to vulnerable populations, particularly youth and women.
• Experience working in humanitarian contexts and emergencies.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with various partners.
• Ability to adapt professionally in challenging environments.
• Proficiency in MS Office applications and general computer literacy.

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

UNFPA Moldova Country Office(CO) is currently engaged in supporting the Ukrainian refugees with a special focus on adolescents, youth and women. As part of this support, UNFPA initiated the establishment of the safe and friendly spaces for youth and women that are called “Orange spaces”. The UN Volunteer will mainly have the role of support staff in “Orange Spaces” that will provide a physically, emotionally, and socially protective environment. The ''Orange spaces” are dedicated to adolescents and youth from 10 to 24 years and women of all ages. However, they can also cover children up to 10 years to the extent possible.

The''Orange spaces” are offering a combination of protection, psychosocial, and recreation support, and may offer activities aiming at life skills development, building emotional resilience, GBV prevention, access to basic hygienic products, including menstrual hygiene and contraception, as well as referral information for necessary services. The space allows adolescents, youth and women to have social relations with their peers, and dialogue on sensitive issues or issues of common interest but also offers opportunities to have their voices heard or provide feedback on services.

UN Volunteers are expected to be available full time and to travel/work outside Chisinau (at the refugee placements, including the border point of Palanca).

Under direct supervision of the Head of Policy and Liaison Unit Humanitarian Office – Coordinator of humanitarian response in UNFPA Moldova Country Office, the UNV will assist the following tasks:

• Provide Psychosocial support to the beneficiaries, • Implement and support life skills development programs that are age-appropriate and include basic knowledge on hygiene, mental health, building relationships, sexuality education, GBV prevention, etc. • Conduct animation activities which may include art therapy, outdoor and sports activities, board games, watching movies, etc. • Provide support to the information and referral to medical or support services (ex. Youth Friendly Health Services, Youth Centers, helplines, etc.) • Support other activities in align with the operations of “Orange Spaces”. • Any other task may be assigned by the supervisor

Values ● Exemplifying integrity ● Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system ● Embracing cultural diversity ● Embracing change

Core competencies ● Achieving results ● Being accountable ● Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen ● Thinking analytically and strategically ● Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships ● Communicating for impact

psychosocial support and social work. • Experience working in the Humanitarian context and emergencies is an asset; • Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; • Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel; • Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment; • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.

The Republic of Moldova lies in the central part of Europe in the north-eastern Balkans. Moldova occupies an area of 33,843.5 km2. The capital of Moldova is Chisinau. On the North, East and South Moldova is surrounded by Ukraine, and on the West it is separated from Romania by the Prut River. The landscape of Moldova consists of hilly plains with an average altitude of about 150 meters (495 feet) above sea level, which flatten gradually toward the southwest. Old forests called Codrii cover the central part of the country. Moldova is in an earthquake zone connected to the Carpathian Mountains. The last major earthquake occurred in 1989, although smaller scale earthquakes are common throughout the year. Moldova’s two major rivers are the Nistru and the Prut, and a short span of the Danube crosses the extreme southern part of the republic. There are more than 3,000 small rivers or tributaries, of which only seven are longer than 80 km (50 miles). Moldova has more than 50 natural lakes and is rich in mineral-water springs. The country has a temperate climate with four definite seasons. Summers are warm and humid, with an average high temperature in July of +26 degrees Celsius. Winters are cold, especially because of the high humidity. Temperatures can remain below -10 degrees Celsius for several days, and snowfalls are usually not extreme, and snow can remain on the ground for up to several weeks. Spring and autumn are usually beautiful with mild temperatures. Chisinau, the capital, offers a wide variety of cultural and entertainment possibilities, such as opera, ballet, theatre, circuses, and nightclubs. The options decrease, however, in proportion to the population of the community. There are also a growing number of cafes and bars in Moldova, which offer diversity of food and drinks. The computerization of Moldova is progressing rapidly, Internet service is very popular in Moldova at reasonable rates and wireless facilities are available in many locations, therefore using Internet is the common way to stay in contact with friends and family in the home country. The capital city is very green with a lot of parks, lakes and trees around, and it has developed network of cheap public transport, which includes trolleybuses, buses and minibuses. Taxi services are well developed and are quite price-accessible

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

UN Volunteer entitlements and allowances: The purpose of the allowances and entitlements paid to UN Volunteers is to enable UN Volunteers to sustain a secure standard of living at the duty stations in line with United Nations standards without incurring personal costs. The allowances are in no way to be understood as compensation, reward, or salary in exchange for the UN Volunteer’s service. Contingent on specific eligibility criteria, location of the volunteer assignment and contractual type and category, the payment of allowances will begin from the date of Commencement of Service For more information on entitlements please read the Condition of Service (https://explore.unv.org/cos) and use the entitlement calculator (https://app.unv.org/calculator) for the most up to date information

Monthly Living Allowance (Per month) MDL: 9036.24 • Entry lump sum (one time payment) USD: 400 • Travel Ticket when moving to duty station USD: 200 • Exit allowance (for each month served, paid on completion of contract): MDL 753.02 • Medical and life insurance: Cigna Private Insurance

Leave entitlements: • Annual leave: 2.5 days accrued per calendar month • Certified sick leave: 30 days • Uncertified sick leave: 7 days • Learning leave: 10 working days per consecutive 12 months • Maternity Leave: 16 weeks • Paternity Leave: 10 days

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unv.org