MHPSS Specialist-Moldova

INTERSOS is an independent humanitarian organization that assists the victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts and exclusion. Its activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, respect for diversity and coexistence, paying special attention to the most vulnerable people**.**

Terms of reference

Job Title: MHPSS Specialist

Code: SR-59-9130

Duty station: Chisinau (Moldova)

Starting date: 01/01/2024

Contract duration: until 31/12/2024

Reporting to: Protection Coordinator

Supervision of: Technical supervision of psychologists

Functional Supervisor: Mental Health Referent HQ

Type of duty station: Accompanied duty station

General context of the project

On March 3rd 2022, INTERSOS started the first activities in support of the population in transit in Moldova. INTERSOS was initially present at the borders in the south-east of the country with operational headquarters in the capital, Chisinau. We established a mobile clinic to offer primary healthcare for refugees in transit at the border point of Palanca. There, as in the nearby border point of Tudora, INTERSOS carried out protection activities in cooperation with UNHCR including identification of vulnerable people, referrals, direct psychosocial support and information provision on available services. In the following months, INTERSOS established its presence in the Palanca Bus Hub and in the districts of Căușeni and Ștefan Vodă. A protection and medical team began providing primary healthcare, protection monitoring, PSS as well as internal and external referrals for Ukrainian and Third Country Nationals fleeing the conflict. Due to the geographical spread of the displaced population, INTERSOS Moldova soon expanded its activities into the central region of the country, covering the city of Chișinău and the districts of Călărași, Fălești, Hîncești, Strășeni and Ungheni. A special focus has been put on reaching the most vulnerable communities therefore, assessments have been conducted in the northern, central and southern regions of the country. The mobile protection units engaged with local actors and representatives of communities and individuals at risk in order to understand their needs and provide durable solutions. INTERSOS is now engaged in the provision of services for the displaced Roma community in multiple districts.

During 2023, Intersos expanded its activities increasing its teams of Psychologist, Medical Doctors, Nurses, Health Promoters, Case Managers and Cultural Mediators.

General purpose of the position

Support the Medical Coordinator in defining, supervising and implementing the MHPSS component of the protection programme.

Provide technical guidance and advices to protection staffs, ensuring that specific MHPSS components of the programme are delivered according to internal guidelines and in line with international standards and principles, in order to achieve the mission’s goals effectively, according to INTERSOS human resources vision and values.

Main responsibilities and tasks

Coordination

• Contribute to the design of the MHPSS strategy of the mission and provide technical support and assistance for the implementation of the MHPSS activities through the proper tools and methodologies
• Ensure cohesion and harmonization of MHPSS activities, tools, guidelines and services across the different projects strategy by drafting and revising MHPSS SOPs, adapting internal and global guidelines and guarantying that they are known by relevant staffs
• Design and develop a MHPSS Toolkit with appropriate resources and guidelines to provide structured and unstructured MHPSS for children and adults
• Development of a harmonised structure for group PSS, emotional support groups, awareness-raising and community outreach/engagement components across the mission
• Monitor progress on individual cases documented by the psychologists by establishing tools, maintaining strict protocols for confidentiality and consent
• Provide technical support to the psychologists for individual cases affected by crisis, GBV survivors, child protection cases, etc.
• Design and revise MHPSS interventions and activities that are AGD sensitive and ensure AGD and context appropriateness in addressing CP, GBV and other protection issues, as well as proper identification of vulnerable/at risk individuals
• Work with the CP and GBV specialist to strengthen PSS in case management providing guidance on identifying issues, empathy, session structure and referral
• Collaborate with Case Management and Medical Teams to ensure proper collaboration in referral procedures
• In coordination with the Medical & Protection Coordinators, deliver trainings and workshops to medical & protection staffs to build skills on MHPSS topics. Develop training materials according to national policies and international standards
• Support the Medical & Protection Coordinator to deliver trainings and workshops to non-protection staffs to build skills and knowledge of Staff Care, Mental Health, PFA and other topics relevant to all sectors, and to develop and implement a Staff Care System for the staffs
• In coordination with the Medical & Protection Coordinators assess MHPSS needs and gaps of target populations in current and future areas of operations. Analyse regularly the status of protection activities and inform the programme accordingly
• Contribute to the maintenance of an up-to-date service mapping of the service providers operating in the area and take proactive actions to remain informed about the available services for referral and coordination.
• Set-up referral pathways for medical & protection teams with other MHPSS service providers in the area of intervention
• In line with the current protection strategy of the mission and in coordination with the Community Engagement Specialist design and develop a community-based approach to MHPSS
• Develop standard MEAL tools and indicators to measure the impact, effectiveness and quality of MHPSS interventions for children, adults and people with disabilities, and ensure the piloting and standardization of these tools. Increase and enhance MHPSS programme monitoring and evaluation, and determining impact
• Support the Medical & Protection Coordinators to ensure that protection data are collected, archived, processed, analyzed and disseminated in ethical modalities guarantying the confidentiality and the respect of internal data protection protocols. Maintain and update the MHPSS platforms for synchronization of data protection management and reporting
• Under the supervision of the Medical & Protection Coordinators undertake regular field monitoring visits and provide tools to monitor the quality of programme implementation

Networking and partnerships

• Maintain collaborative working relationships with relevant clusters and related working groups at national and/or field level and guarantee compliance to the eventual monthly cluster reporting requirements
• Represent INTERSOS in MHPSS in meetings and share best practices and lessons learnt
• Act as focal point in the protection cluster for the MHPSS technical working group
• In coordination with the Medical & Protection Coordinators ensure that main MHPSS concerns are brought to relevant stakeholders to advocate the respect of human rights and guarantee the minimum protection standards
• Network with MHPSS leaders of other missions and other organizations to share best practices and resources

Required profile and experience

Education

• University degree in Social Science, Psychology, Social Work, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law or other fields related to social development and humanitarian work
• Preferable master’s degree in a related field

Professional Experience

• Minimum 3 years work experience in protection and MHPSS with NGOs
• Desirable previous experience other non-governmental organizations in low-income countries

Professional Requirements

• Strong theoretical, technical and practical knowledge of MHPSS
• Demonstrated ability to work in humanitarian context
• Very good understanding of protection, human rights law and international humanitarian rights and principles
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills on protection and human rights
• Experience in proposal writing is an asset
• Essential computer literacy (word, excel and internet)

Languages

• English
• Romanian/Russian/Ukrainian is an asset

Personal requirements

• Flexibility and ability to work in insecure, stressful and hardship environments
• High confidentiality, respect and non-discriminatory attitude
• Diplomatic skills in networking with partners, authorities and donors
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Strong time management, resourcefulness and attention to detail
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work and integrate into a multicultural team
• Commitment to INTERSOS principles