EoI 83409537-Psychological Support for GIZ Staff 18.9207.4-002.00

1. Background

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH provides services in the fields of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education, working around the world to shape a future worth living. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is GIZ’s main commissioning party. GIZ has been supporting German-Lebanese development cooperation for more than 20 years. In Lebanon, GIZ is working in three focus sectors: water, education, and employment promotion. In addition, GIZ has programmes that focus on social participation of women and youth, psychosocial support, and conflict transformation among Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian communities. Currently, GIZ Lebanon has around 130 employees. The majority of them are Lebanese.

GIZ Lebanon is committed to staff care, ensuring a safe and secure work environment where employees feel valued, motivated, stay healthy and well. As part of its staff care policy, GIZ supports employees in accessing psychological support to deal with work-related stressors and to manage crisis situations.

2. Objective

This Expression of Interest aims at identifying clinical psychologists with psychotherapy training to provide psychological support to staff members on a consultancy basis.

Interested consultants will be included in a short-list and will be asked to prepare a short technical concept and a financial quotation based on Terms of Reference that will be provided during the tender procedure. GIZ plans to conclude framework agreements with up to four highest-ranked bidders.

The contractor will work closely with GIZ’s technical staff as well as other identified stakeholders for the delivery of services.

3. Description of tasks

The consultant will provide acute crisis support and up to 10 sessions of brief therapeutic support or psychological counseling to GIZ staff members. Dependent on COVID-19 related movement restrictions, this service will be provided via telephone, online or in person

The support services can address the following:

1. Provision of psychological support and/or psychosocial counseling to GIZ employees with acute psychological support needs or psychosocial challenges and or/distress, for instance due to the quarantine restrictions, after traumatic events, security incidences etc. The support shall also include family members of affected GIZ employees if needed.

 

2. Provision of a maximum of up to ten continuous psychological support sessions for staff members on work-related topics such as: stress, conflicts with colleagues and executives, secondary traumatization through contact with affected target groups, continuous stress due to the economic crisis, COVID-19 or the volatile security situation

 

3. Provision of group interventions on demand on work-related topics such as: stress, conflicts with colleagues and executives, conflicts within teams, secondary traumatization through contact with affected target groups, continuous stress due to the economic crisis, COVID-19 or the volatile security situation

 

4. Psychological support in case of gender-based violence and to GIZ Lebanon’s sexual harassment redressal committee, implementing GIZ’s sexual harassment redressal policy.

4. Period of contract and expected timeline of commitment

The duration of each framework agreement is foreseen from 01.08.2022-31.07.2024. With an option to be prolonged twice with each prolongation foreseen for one year.

 

5. Qualifications[NPGL1] 

Please apply to the Expression of Interest only when matching the following profile:

1. University degree in Psychology (M.A. or equivalent)
2. Certified professional qualification as psychological counsellor and/or psychotherapist in an internationally recognized psychotherapeutic or counselling approach with a minimum of 3 years of experience post-licensing

Certification as psychotherapist with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is a must and will be seen as an exclusion criterion if not obtained and is therefore ranked as 0 in the assessment grid weighting

3. At least 5 years of proven professional work experience in Lebanon
4. Work experience in topics such as work-related stress, conflicts with colleagues and executives, burn-out / bore-out, secondary traumatization etc.

Professional experience with staff welfare and stress management in humanitarian or development contexts, in particular with international NGOs, donor agencies etc.

5. Strong spoken and written language skills in English (international language proficiency level B2)

Strong spoken Arabic skills, preferably native speaker (C1)

 

6. Up-to-date knowledge on available psychological and psychosocial services in Lebanon and their quality. Good professional networks with other psychosocial practitioners (this criterion will not be graded)

 

Additionally, the consultant shall have the following desired specializations:

• Work experiences with survivors of sexualized violence and/or in the field of sexual harassment.
• Work experience in provision of crisis support / psychological first aid.