Psychosocial and Mental Health Assessment Consultant
CONSULTANCY - TERMS OF REFERENCE:
UNRWA
is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949
and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of
some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help
Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza
Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a
just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education,
health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and
improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is the largest
UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff. UNRWA is
funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
Psychosocial and Mental Health Assessment Consultant:
BACKGROUND:The
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme is seeking a Psychosocial and
Mental Health Assessment Consultant Psychosocial to develop a
comprehensive and integrated assessment package that covers a wide range
of mental health and psychosocial indices consistent with refugee
research and practice. The assessment package should include tools that
can be applied to both children and adults, particularly in schools and
health clinics. The Psychosocial and Mental Health Assessment Consultant
will develop a psychosocial assessment system, provide capacity
building to programme staff, and conduct a preliminary assessment of the
psychosocial and mental health status of Palestine refugees in Gaza.
Description of Duties and Responsibilities:
- Development of a psychosocial assessment system. In consultation with relevant stakeholders, the consultant will provide recommendations and action plan for an improved psychosocial assessment system. This will include the identification and/or development of assessments tools that can be used to measure both child and adult functioning and well-being.
- Capacity building: The consultant will provide professional training to key stakeholders and staff based on identified training needs. He/she will also train selected staff members on how to use the new assessment tools.
- Preliminary Assessment: With the support of the Community Mental Health Programme, the consultant shall undertake a sampled assessment of the psychosocial status of children attending UNRWA schools and adults attending UNRWA health clinics. The consultant will be responsible for completing a research report outlining the findings. The report should contain collated assessment data and an analysis of the findings.
Minimum Qualifications and Experience:
- Advanced university degree in psychology, social work or related fields with experience in mental health research;
- A minimum of five years experience in mental health assessment and measurement;
- Knowledge and experience using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS);
- Fluency in spoken and written English.
COMPETENCIES:
- Expertise in the development and implementation of mental health and psychosocial assessment instruments;
- Demonstrated expertise in conducting participatory assessments among refugees populations;
- Experience in capacity-building and staff training in research and the use of SPSS;
- Strong organization, interpersonal and coordination skills, ability to work effectively with minimal supervision;
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with colleagues and others in a team environment and with people of diverse backgrounds, cultures and nationalities;
- Strong work ethics and commitment to humanitarian issues.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, experience in report writing.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:
- Knowledge and experience implementing the IASC guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings desirable;
- Previous experience with UNRWA or other UN agency;
- Fluency in spoken Arabic;
- Previous experience working in the Middle East.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE:
- The duration of the consultancy is two months with the expected start date of March 1, 2015;
- Remuneration for this consultancy will depend on the qualifications and experience of the candidate;
- The incumbent will be based in Gaza and may be required to travel to Jerusalem and Amman.
How to apply:
Applicants
should submit a cover letter and CV or UN Personal History Form
demonstrating clearly the knowledge and experience required to meet the
consultancy requirements via consultancy@unrwa.org indicating the title
of this consultancy “Psychosocial and Mental Health Assessment
Consultant” in the subject line of the message. The deadline for the
submission of applications is February 1, 2016.
UNRWA is an equal
opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men.
UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women. Only those
applicants shortlisted for interview will be contacted. UNRWA is a
non-smoking environment.
loading...
