Psychologist- Upon Donor Validation

Action against Hunger is an international non-governmental, private, apolitical, non-religious and non-profit organization created in 1979. Its goal is to combat hunger and dangerous situations that threaten men, women, and children. Currently 500 expats and more than 5,000 employees are working for Action against Hunger in more than forty-six countries working in projects concerning four areas of focus: nutrition, health, food security and water and sanitation. 

In Lebanon, the Syrian crisis continues to generate political, social, and economic pressure due to the war in Lebanon and keeps more than 1.5 million refugees in a situation of increasing vulnerability. In this environment of political, economic and social uncertainty, our teams have maintained their high levels of humanitarian response and aid to Lebanon. Likewise, our interventions have been maintained in the Bekaa and northern areas, as well as in the south of the country, with a special focus on working in partnership or in consortium with other organizations and on institutional strengthening of the relationship with both donors. institutional, such as with local authorities and entities.

Under the supervision of the Nutrition Head of Project, the Psychologist will contribute to Infant and Young Child Feeding  (IYCF), mental health, and care practices, as well as the identification of implementation sites. S/he will be responsible for implementing and monitoring psychological activities for beneficiaries, with a particular focus on group awareness sessions on mental health, assessing individual needs, and providing follow-up support in accordance with mental health guidelines.

S/he will ensure effective coordination and communication with nutrition and health staff, as well as other Action Against Hunger team members. This role involves both field and office work, requiring frequent movement within the Bekaa area. Given the dynamic and demanding nature of the position, the Psychologist is expected to demonstrate resilience to stress and adaptability in a versatile work environment. 

Key activities in your role will include:

Objective 1 - Needs analysis and adapting approaches to cultural context (10%)

• In collaboration with other Field Officers in the team and the Nutrition Head of Project, the Psychologist will be responsible for assessing on a regular basis the needs (including mental health needs and care practices) amongst the targeted communities in the areas of interventions.
• S/he will be responsible for determining the optimal and sub-optimal practices needing improvement and formulate and manage care plans.3    S/he will offer technical advice about the mainstreaming of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) across Action Against Hunger’s activities in Bekaa, general Action Against Hunger’s approaches in Lebanon. 

Objective 2 – Ensure timely and quality implementation of psychosocial support activities (50%)

•    To develop guidelines for group sessions integrating mental health and psychosocial support to improve care practices, infant and young child feeding and nutrition.
•    To support and accompany other field officers, so that psychosocial considerations are effectively mainstreamed across all group sessions.
•     To contribute to the development of standardized tools to collect and measure baseline and end line mental health indicators (psychological well-being, caregiver-child interactions, and child development, together with knowledge, attitudes and practices).
•    Participate in the design and implementation of any other psychosocial/psychological activities that might be identified as relevant and pertinent according to the beneficiaries’ needs or linked to the mental health situation of the beneficiaries.
•    Actively collaborate with nutrition and health staff and participate in activities to support breastfeeding; Take advantage of the activities time to observe and encourage a positive caregiver-child relationship and bonding;
•    Assist mothers with breastfeeding difficulties as much as possible, as well as supporting husbands and other family members to create a supportive environment for breastfeeding and adequate care practices.

Objective 3 – Conduct Household Visits for One-on-One Counseling and Follow-Up. (20%)

•  Assess the needs of mothers to identify challenges they face, develop tailored care plans, and provide follow-up sessions as needed.
•    Conduct household visits for mothers in need of one-on-one counselling sessions and provide follow-up support to ensure improvements in their well-being.
•     Ensure an effective referral system (with external partners and services) in MHPSS for beneficiaries in need of primary or secondary mental health support.

Objective 4: Reporting and archiving (10%)

•    Submit weekly and monthly reports.
•   Participate to external reports when needed 
•     Ensure proper, accurate and timely archiving of all the means of verification of the project and other technical project documentation (soft and hard copies)
•   Ensure proper documentation of challenges, lessons learned and best practices

Objective 5 – Coordination and referral monitoring (10%)

•  Participate in external coordination (when needed) at the base level (including MHPSS sub-national working Group in Bekaa and other working group meetings as requested).
•   Assist in the maintenance of regular liaison, collaboration and coordination with other actors at the field level. 
•     Support in the maintenance and functioning of a proper coordination and referral system with Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and organizations/entities working in the area (referral mechanism…)
•     Ensure proper communication of the hotline and feedback mechanisms

Objective 6– Security

•     Respect the security rules specified in the mission and base security plan, see to it that the team under his/her responsibility complies with the security plan and perform the security management tasks that can be assigned in its protocols.
•    Communicate to the security managers of the working location any security related information or noncompliance with the security plan

Objective 7- Support humanitarian activities of Action Against Hunger

•     Support the emergency interventions of the organization as per the employee’s abilities.
•    Support any activity that helps reaching our humanitarian goals, as per the employee’s abilities.

Objective 8: Gender & Safeguarding (cross-cutting)

•    Promote safe and equitable environments, through knowledge and application of the protocol against harassment and gender policy.
•    Knowledge and compliance with safeguarding policy.
•     Promote gender equality within the humanitarian and/or development work

Action against Hunger is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work such as but not limited to sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and/or financial misconduct; We expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through endorsing our code of conduct and other related policies and only those who share our values and code of conduct will be recruited to work for us.