Staff Counsellor NOC, Damascus, Syria VA017-2021

Medical & Health

Overview

Provide psychological support to WFP staff in Syria.

You have:

• Advanced University degree in Psychology, Psychiatry, Counselling or other related field.
• Registration as a Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Counsellor or equivalent in the country of origin is required.
• Typically five years or more of relevant experience in the field of mental health.
• Experience in hardship duty stations providing counselling services to staff working in difficult and hazardous environments is desirable.
• Fluency (level C) in oral and written communication in Arabic and in English.

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WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles.

Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

All applications should be received no later than Wednesday 1st September, 2021

CONTRACT AND DURATION

This position is open to Syrian or Syrian/Palestinian nationals only.

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract (FT - NOC)

Duration: 12 months

Duty Station: Damascus

Number of required employees: 1

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetime. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need. In 2020, WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to fight hunger globally, including its work during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Syria, WFP provides food assistance to more than 4.6 million people each month. This includes families who require emergency assistance when affected by conflict and displacement and also those who need help to improve their nutrition and food security. WFP supports children across Syria with healthy meals and snacks at school, mothers with nutritious diets, and families and communities with sustainable livelihood projects.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

This position is based in Damascus and reports to the Staff Counsellor- Syria and Lebanon.

JOB PURPOSE

The challenges of working in difficult conditions to bring much needed food and support to our recipients can place a great deal of pressure and stress on WFP staff. In collaboration and under the Staff Wellness Division, the Staff Counselling Unit is committed to preventing or alleviating stress and improving the overall health, performance, and morale of staff. We do this by identifying and addressing factors that contribute to stress in the workplace, promoting good employment and management practices, and providing counselling services that help to mitigate or avoid the negative effects of workplace stress. The staff counsellor will provide efficient and effective psychological counselling to staff requiring support related to work-place difficulties or personal issues. A large emphasis will be placed on extensive engagement with staff and promotion of staff well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantively increased the needs of WFP employees for staff counselling services. Given that the coronavirus affects not only staff, but also their families, there is a growing need for a staff counsellor in Syria who can speak Arabic.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

1. Provide culturally sensitive counselling services to WFP staff. This may include case management, individual sessions and referrals to other resources as required;
2. Provide remote psychosocial briefings for management and employees across a wide range of issues (e.g stress management, communication, leadership)
3. Provide remote training and mentoring for Peer Support Volunteers to facilitate their role in supporting staff during the COVID-19 pandemic;
4. Liaise with Wellbeing Committees, particularly with regards to dissemination of accurate health information during COVID-19 pandemic;
5. Support the Staff Counsellor of Lebanon & Syria as well as the Regional Staff Counsellor in Cairo in preparation of information materials on a wide range of topics, as well as in facilitating webinars, group Team meetings etc. to staff and managers;
6. Provide culturally sensitive counselling services to staff in other UN agencies upon agreement with Regional Staff Counsellor and DRD;
7. Be accountable for maintaining professional confidentiality at all times, practice ethically, actively engage with staff, listen to their concerns, and stay approachable.
8. Actively engage with management and staff to establish relationships based on trust and respect
9. Provide pre and post deployment briefings to staff deployed to hardship duty stations through briefings, counselling sessions and other activities to ensure proactive support is extended to staff.
10. Contribute to the design (policies and guidelines, as well as) information / booklets to increase awareness regarding important themes and promote staff wellness.
11. Prepare comprehensive reports, plan budget for missions, trainings and plan and implement other staff counselling activities to ensure the provision of cohesive counselling services.
12. Maintain at all times, high standard of professional ethics and confidentiality consistent with the Wellness Division Ethical Guidelines and Standards of Practice, actively engage with (management and) staff, listen to their concerns, and stay approachable.
13. Complete administrative duties such as maintain statistics on activities and completing reporting requirements as per the requirement in the Staff Wellness Division

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Advanced University degree in Psychology, Psychiatry, Counselling or other related field. Registration as a Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Counsellor or equivalent in the country of origin is required.

Experience: Typically five years or more of relevant experience in the field of mental health. Experience in hardship duty stations providing counselling services to staff working in difficult and hazardous environments is desirable.

Language: Fluency (level C) in oral and written communication in Arabic and in English.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Broad knowledge of all facets of the field of counselling and ability to provide an environment in which others can talk confidentially and act without fear or repercussions within a climate of established trust.
• Excellent communication skills (oral, written and presentation) including the ability to defend and explain difficult issues and positions to staff at all levels.
• Ability to identify clients’ needs and, if required, suggest internal or external resources to support.
• Ability to establish and maintain productive partnerships with clients.
• Very good working knowledge of technology tools such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word.
• Ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries and establish and maintain effective working relationships in a multi- cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

DESIRED EXPERIENCES FOR ENTRY INTO THE ROLE

• Experience in working in UN or other humanitarian organizationsN/A
• Additional training or certification in related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, stress management, critical incident stress, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, mediation, trauma, etc. will be an advantage.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• Please upload your professional CV in English in PDF format making sure to include the following in your Work Experience:
  • Company/Organization name and scope of work of the organization
  • Exact Position Title and grade (If UN, state exact grade and level)
  • Contract type: part-time, full-time, volunteer, consultant, or freelancer. (If UN, state exact contract modality)
  • Start and End date of Employment for each position: From (dd/mm/yyyy) to (dd/mm/yyyy)
  • Responsibilities: Main responsibilities that highlight your gained skills and experience
• Proof of your work experience will be required in the final stage of recruitment.
• Only short-listed candidates will be invited to the next stage of the selection process.
• Candidates must get an auto confirmation email once application is submitted.
• Follow the links below to submit your application. If the link does not work, copy and paste it in your browser address bar.

HOW TO APPLY

If any of the below links do not work by clicking on it, please copy and paste it in the browser address bar:

Internal candidates: Ensure that your VPN is connected before clicking on the link below.

https://performancemanager5.successfactors.eu/sf/jobreq?jobId=145288&company=C0000168410P

External candidates:

https://router.job-listing.wfp.org/sfcareer/jobreqcareer?jobId=145288&company=C0000168410P

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Qualified female applicants are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

Apply now

Potential interview questions

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