Consultancy – Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (remote) At Terre des hommes

1.Terre des hommes (Tdh) in the MENA Region

Tdh is a leading Swiss child rights agency present in the MENA region since 1973. Currently, Tdh operates in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Iraq. Afghanistan and Pakistan belong programmatically and operationally to the MENA portfolio at Tdh as well. Within the region, Tdh has in place 3 specialized programs: (1) Access to Justice for Children and Youth, within which a ‘Gender Justice’ theme is carried out, (2) Children and youth affected by migration, and (3) Child and Maternal Health. Those programs, in addition to the specialized technical staff within each of them, are supported by a Child Protection Transversal Unit as well as a Quality and Accountability Unit.

More information can be found here: https://www.tdh.ch/en

2. Background: MHPSS in Iraq & Tdh’s action

The recent conflicts in Iraq led to large scale recruitment of children by ISIS group, and a number of these children are still detained by relevant authorities. Some child detainees may have committed acts of violence while simultaneously being victims of ISIS. Mental health issues observed in detention centers show high rates of trauma related disorders, depression, suicidal tendencies and aggressive behaviour. The majority of children deprived of their liberty are also generally treated with suspicion / stigma, which creates barriers to their reintegration, no matter the crime they might or might not have committed. Tdh aims to provide support to children, youth and their communities who have been used by armed groups through an innovative pilot intervention. The project combines Tdh’s expertise in providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services with the development of innovative approaches to addressing violent behaviour and trauma in youth grooming by violent groups, to enable them to strengthen their resilience and move forward with their lives as peaceful, independent and active members of society. Awareness work with the communities on social cohesion will help the youth reintegrate into the society and help them reconcile with their families. Tdh’s approach to Juvenile Justice and Child Protection is strongly based on child protection system strengthening and community empowerment strategies, as well as child/youth participation.

3. Objectives of the consultancy

The objective of the consultancy is twofold: i) to support TdH team in developing training material on critical thinking and empathy and develop guidelines for Social Workers and ii) to develop material for a training for social workers and local NGOs on tailor-made tools and skills to provide basic MHPSS services to children and youth deprived of liberty.
Training material will be developed with the support of Tdh team in Iraq and it will be based on a set of training needs identified both internally (feedback provided from the consultations with Tdh colleagues on the field in 2020) and externally (inputs provided by relevant stakeholder such as governmental authorities, international and national civil society representatives, UN agencies representatives).

4. Deliverables

The scope of work has 2 main objectives and the consultancy has 2 expected deliverables, as follows:
1st Ob. Develop training material and lead the training in collaboration with Tdh Deputy PM on methods to foster critical thinking and empathy for Tdh staff, social workers and local NGOs

The related deliverables are:

a) focus group discussions with Tdh technical team (clinical psychologist, MHPSS PM) to identify the main subjects of the training material and the key elements/template that should be addressed. Tdh will also provide to the consultant the Tdh key materials and resources to consider (approx. 1 days – September 2021).

b) an assessment of the capacity of in-country staff in order to identify training needs, MHPSS training strategy (strategy and capacity building plan) that shall be included in the training material. (Approx. 2 days – September 2021).

c) drafting and finalization of training material; pre- and post- assessment to identify the impact of the training on participants; concept note and training agenda (Approx. 5 days – September 2021)

2nd Ob. Develop material to train social workers and local NGOs on tailor-made tools and skills to provide basic MHPSS services to children and youth deprived of liberty.

The related deliverable:

a) Initial discussion with Tdh technical team (clinical psychologist, MHPSS PM) on the social workers’ training needs already identified in previous meeting conducted with social workers and managers of the detention centers in Baghdad (Approx. 1 day – September 2021)

b) development of training material based on the social workers pre-identified training needs; pre- and post- assessment to identify the impact of the training on participants; training agenda (Approx. 5 days – September 2021)

c) technical support in the development of training toolkit for the social workers and local NGOs (approx. 1 day – September 2021)

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• 1st Ob. Develop training material and lead the training in collaboration with Tdh Deputy PM on methods to foster critical thinking and empathy for Tdh staff, social workers and local NGOs –>

-Tasks : Meeting with the project technical team; Consultation with the MHPSS Coordinator; Internal assessment undertaken through focus groups discussion with TdH Staff; Developing the training modules.

-Deliverable : Training Modules, Training agenda, Concept note, pre- and post-assessment report.

-Timing : 8 days

• 2nd Ob. Develop material to train social workers and local NGOs on tailor-made tools and skills to provide basic MHPSS services to children and youth deprived of liberty –>

-Tasks : Draft the training modules based on the results of the previous assessment conducted by Tdh; Develop the training material; Develop the training toolkit.

-Deliverable : Training Modules, Training Agenda, Concept note, pre- and post-assessment report.

-Timing : 7 days.

5. Methodology

The technical proposal of the consultant has to consider different cognitive, social and emotional stages of child development, integrate the main gender and disability MHPSS approaches and to be context-appropriate.

6. Timeframe

The duration of this consultancy contract shall be for a maximum of 15 working days, between approximately September and October 2021. The Consultant will work remotely. The consultancy period will start from the agreement contract signoff date and will end once the final deliverables have been formally approved by Tdh. The consultant shall submit within the technical offer a tentative work plan considering the timeframe planned for this consultancy and the deliverables as stated above.

7. Roles and responsibilities

The training material will be developed by the consultant in collaboration with Tdh MHPSS Deputy PM/Clinical Psychologist and under the supervision of Tdh Access to Justice Technical Coordinator. While the consultant will be responsible for its drafting, working sessions with Tdh focal points are to be factored within the plan and agreed between the parties. Tdh will provide to the consultant the required internal resources to review and include. Tdh will be also responsible for the approval of the training material upon the final draft produced by the consultant.

Design of the final products and their translation into Arabic will be a responsibility of Tdh.

8. Consultancy’s conditions

This consultancy is remotely. Payment will be done in Swiss Francs (CHF). Price offered by the consultant should be inclusive of value added tax. Consultants are liable for paying their taxes. Payment(s) will be made upon completion of deliverable.

9. Profile of the consultant: qualifications and experience

• Advanced degree in international development, social sciences, human rights or similar and relevant to the consultancy’s scope. Mental Health and Child Rights studies would be an advantage
• Demonstrable experience (at least 5 years) in research/evaluation of training-related programs on MHPSS and children’s rights
• At least 3 years of experience implementing MHPSS programming in development and/or humanitarian settings, preferably in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
• At least 2 years of experience conducting MHPSS trainings for staff related to treatment of individuals impacted by displacement, conflict, gender-based violence, torture, and human rights violations
• Demonstrated experience/knowledge of mental health considerations and best practices related to the treatment for war victims is required
• Knowledge of MHPSS global guidelines and best practices. Experience in MHPSS with children and adolescents preferred
• Demonstrable experience in program strategic design and program technical support in humanitarian and development contexts, with a focus on the MENA region
• Excellent English communication (quality writing and presentation)
• Knowledge on and understanding of child protection in emergency, PM+ and CBT
• Ability to conduct high quality programmatic products, meet deadlines and respond to request and feedback provided timely and appropriately
• Respect for institutional values, processes, and rules
• Mastery of the basic computer tools (Word, Xcel, PPT, etc.)