Health Advisor for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Salary band: 4

4

Health Advisor for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Professional

4T

Job Profile

1. Required qualifications, competences and experience

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Psychology
• Internationally accredited training in psychotherapy or psychosocial counseling would be a strong plus

Professional experience

• At least 5 years of experience working in development cooperation and/or humanitarian aid
• At least 5 years of experience in administration and project management
• At least 5 years of professional experience as MHPSS specialist in humanitarian/development organizations
• At least 5 years of professional experience delivering capacity strengthening measures for MHPSS actors
• Strong practical work experience in cooperating with governments and multilateral actors on MHPSS
• Strong practical experience in conference and workshop organization and facilitation
• Proven experience in the elaboration and publication of reports/ articles/ manuals on MHPSS

Knowledge

• Excellent oversight over current developments in the field of MHPSS with regards to new approaches and the evidence base
• Excellent knowledge on MHPSS actors and structures in Lebanon
• Knowledge on monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms in development cooperation
• Excellent knowledge of the political and legal characteristics of the Lebanese context
• Knowledge on decoloniality and feminist approaches to MHPSS is an asset

Competences

• Fluent in English and Arabic (C2)
• Good working knowledge of ITC technologies and computer applications, especially graphic tools (Canva etc.) and MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, MS Teams)
• Detail-orientation and flawless elaboration of documents in form and writing
• Meticulousness in administrative tasks
• Excellent personal work organization and reliability
• MHPSS training skills

Attitude

• High identification with a human rights-based approach to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
• Commitment to work independently on detailed and sometimes tedious administrative tasks
• Sensitivity to power dynamics
• Critical thinking about trends in development cooperation and MHPSS
• Non-judgmental, non-discriminatory with others
• Team-player with strong people skills
• Eye-level communication with partners

2. Responsibilities

The GIZ Regional Project on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) connects MHPSS actors across different countries in the Middle East and provides technical support to improve MHPSS service delivery and promote context-, trauma- and gender-sensitive MHPSS approaches. The Technical Advisor will focus on the achievement of the RP’s goals in Lebanon, while assuring synergies between the different countries of implementation (Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq) and cross-country knowledge management. The position is a 80% or 100% position, to be agreed with the successful candidate.

In this context, the position holder fulfils the following tasks:

3. Tasks

Functioning of the project management of the Lebanon team, regional team and country office

• Administration: Support the proper storing of all documents in the document management system, support the processing of invoices and take on different logistical and administrative tasks
• Monitoring & Evaluation: Support the regional team in results-based monitoring and the documentation of the progress in the achievement in outcomes and outputs
• Translation: Assist with the revision and translation of projects documents including knowledge products and reports to and from Arabic
• Establishing consultancies: Draft tender documents (such as Terms of Reference, Technical Assessment grids) for local and international short-term experts and consultants, support recruitment of the former and prepare consulting missions technically and logistically, including translation services for international experts
• Regional exchange: Participate in meetings of the Lebanon and regional team and ensure regional learning between team members
• Liaison with country office: Cooperate with the country office portfolio management unit in responding to information and exchange requests
• PR Focal person: Liaise with communications department at HQ and country office, contributing project contents to all media channels and assure fulfillment of GIZ guidelines in the elaboration of products with partners
• Security Focal person: Represent the RP in meetings on security organized by the Risk Management Office, assure the compliance with security regulations, respond to security-related requests by the country office

Technical support for development cooperation actors of different sectors for the integration of MHPSS approaches into their work

• Raise awareness of development cooperation actors in different sectors on the benefits of MHPSS-integration into their work
• Establish cooperation relationships with other projects interested in MHPSS-integration and enhancing knowledge management on regional level between projects which are interested in MHPSS-integration
• Strengthen MHPSS-capacities of development cooperation actors through advisory, trainings and workshops, including local partner organizations
• Document capacity development processes and discuss lessons learned with the regional team and in technical exchanges for the improvement of MHPSS work
• Develop practical tools (guidelines, videos, media content), which facilitate the integration of MHPSS into different sectors of development cooperation   

Technical exchanges between local, regional and international actors on the application of MHPSS-approaches in their work

• Organize logistically, developing content, and coordinate technical exchanges (or conferences) that bring together local, regional and international actors to discuss regional learnings, successful approaches and innovative knowledge products through different exchange formats including workshops and seminars
• Provide active inputs in Inter-Agency Standing Committee working groups, regional working groups and national technical working groups, amongst others to introduce knowledge products developed by the RP, provide information on the local context and stay up to date with the work in the field

Innovation in MHPSS-approaches and knowledge products on the contextualization and application of MHPSS-approaches with regional relevance

• Look for strategic partnerships to jointly bring the field of MHPSS forward
• Pilot innovative MHPSS-approaches together with local actors, document their impact and develop knowledge products to disseminate the piloted approaches on regional and international level
• Disseminate the newly developed knowledge products and organize activities in which they are being discussed with other actors
• Replicate and adapt the MHPSS-approaches with other actors or in different contexts

Project Description: In the twelfth year of the armed conflict in Syria, the refugee crisis in the region continues: 5.7 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries in the region. While Turkey hosts the largest refugee population in the world, Lebanon is the country with the highest number of refugees per capita, followed by Jordan. In addition to taking in around 257,974 Syrian refugees, Iraq hosts 1.2 million internally displaced persons and 5 million returnees.

Members of marginalized communities, refugees, internally displaced persons, migrant workers, and many others, struggle with material hardship, worsening of the economic and health situation and an uncertain future. In some cases, physical violence persists and experiences of violence in the course of the armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq have very often not been processed. Marginalized communities are often exposed to repeated risk of sexualized and gender-based violence due to socio-economic precariousness, growing social tensions and inadequate shelters at their current location. Many persons experience high psychosocial distress and deteriorating mental health conditions.

National and regional capacities for mental health care and psychosocial support (MHPSS) are insufficient and sometimes inadequate in view of the enormous needs. There is a lack of specialized professionals who are sensitized to the context (psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers, etc.) and a lack of enough suitable facilities and referral structures to ensure the provision of care that meets the different needs and life realities of marginalized groups.

Given the necessity of strengthening MHPSS-capacities in the region while being mindful of the diversity and history in worldviews and approaches to MHPSS, the aim of the Regional Project “Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in the Middle East” is for the technical and methodological know-how of actors working on mental health and psychosocial support to be improved with regard to the application of context-, trauma- and gender-sensitive approaches for psychosocially distressed people in the Middle East.