Consultancy Title: MHPSS in Emergencies Consultant (9 months)

The individual consultant will support the UNICEF MENARO MHPSS in Emergencies and frontline staff wellbeing project.

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Support to UNICEF MENARO MHPSS in Emergencies and frontline staff wellbeing project.

In light of multiple emergencies in 2023, the demand for MHPSS services in the MENA region increased significantly. Part of UNICEF MENARO multi-country interventions in key areas for children, adolescents, and the workforce that supports them.

Two key projects from the MENA Regional Office are the Play and Heal Toolkit co-design with LEGO Foundation and partners, and the ‘Tameni Annak’ or ‘Talk to Me: Supporting the Mental Health of Frontline Workers after an Emergency’programme.

Play and Heal is designed as an adaptation of LEGO Foundation’s global programme ‘Play and Learn’, and support play- based mental health and psychosocial support services for facilitators to deliver following crisis or emergency. Current countries engaged in the Play and Heal project include earthquake affected areas of Türkiye and Northwest Syria, and Lebanon. During 2024, the Play and Heal Toolkit will be finalized and tested, in conjunction with a research project informing design and implementation.

Tammeni Annak has been a highly sought after programme for frontline workers to collectively process emergency events and develop knowledge around promoting good mental health and psychoeducation on burnout, compassion fatigue, high levels of workplace stress, as well as reflecting on and unpacking attitudes towards self-care and help seeking among emergency workers and having the chance to experience peer support and self-care skills in a supportive group environment.

Scope of Work:

The MHPSS in Emergencies consultant will work closely with the MENARO MHPSS Specialist to ensure high quality attention to detail in co-designing and delivering two interventions intended to support populations experiencing emergencies or protracted crises in the region. In addition, the consultant will assist with showcasing and disseminating lessons learned from in providing MHPSS in MENA emergencies.

Specifically, the MHPSS in Emergencies consultant will:

1. Co-lead on expanding the mmeni Annak: Supporting Frontline Workers Mental Health after Emergencies’ programme from UNICEF MENA. This will include providing technical support to adaptations of the package, including the programme for Managers and Supervisors being developed by UNICEF Syria, as well as adaptation for adolescent and youth in collaboration with UNICEF ADAP and SBC teams. The consultant will oversee the expansion of the programme in at least two additional UNICEF offices in the region (likely West Bank and another emergency location). The consultant will support the sustainability of the package roll out by assisting COs and partners to develop cascade and continuity planning.

2. Provide experienced technical support to the co-design and implementation of the Play and Heal project, including supporting the co-design of the Toolkit and developing facilitator training materials and co-delivering training to Play and Heal project countries, Turkiye, Northwest Syria, and Lebanon.

3. Contribute to raising the profile of MHPSS in UNICEF Country Offices, supporting capacity building for MHPSS in Emergencies for countries developing preparedness plans, and showcasing programmes and lessons learned for the MENA region and relevant global audiences. This will involve developing case studies and communication products, and learning opportunities. 

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

• Education: A degree in psychology, clinical social work, or other mental health related field
• Experience: More than 7 years of MHPSS programme work, including conducting training, programme design and delivery, and experience with monitoring and evaluation. Familiarity with interventions targeting frontline worker mental health, and play based MHPSS in emergencies strongly preferred.
• Language: Fluency in Arabic and English is required.

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.