Terms of Reference: Consulting Psychologist (South Africa)

Terms of Reference

Consulting Psychologist (South Africa)

June 2022

Who We Are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that builds media that girls want, trust and need.From chatbots to chat shows, TV dramas to tech, our content helps adolescent girls in Africa and Asia make choices and changes in their lives. We create safe spaces for girls, sharing facts and answering questions about health, nutrition, education, and relationships, empowering girls with the skills to negotiate and redefine what they are told is possible “for a girl”.

Our reach is 20 million and counting, and we use technology to reach girls at scale so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, health, learning and livelihood.

Because when a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, community, and country.

That’s the Girl Effect.

Background

Over the last 15 years, Girl Effect has pivoted several times to serve the needs of adolescent girls. From advocacy groups to donors, we’ve played different roles in fighting gender equality at different times. Girl Effect is evolving to become an expert in digital media and the leading driver of demand for services, products and opportunities amongst adolescent girls in Africa and Asia. Through our portfolio of brands and digital products, we aspire to tackle issues that girls and young women face by equipping them to adopt and maintain new behaviours that will improve their mental wellbeing, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and economic empowerment.

Young people are increasingly moving to use messaging apps, and in 2018 Girl Effect began testing and building a chatbot as an innovative means to reach girls. Towards this end, leveraging Artificial Intelligence, we created a “digital big sister” to give girls a safe, private, non-judgemental and accurate source for information on topics they don’t feel comfortable discussing elsewhere.

The chatbot launched in South Africa in May 2020, focusing on SRH and relationships and received an overwhelmingly positive response. Now in its fourth year of iteration, and to ensure that we are responding to girls’ growing needs in the country, the thematic focus for us this year, in addition to SRH, is the inclusion of mental health literacy and wellbeing.

Therefore, we are looking for an experienced psychologist to help develop, vet and streamline our content on the subject to ensure that our information is accurate and grounded in medical reality.

The Scope

• To enhance knowledge of young women and girls on mental health and how it is closely linked with sexual and reproductive health, physical health and overall wellbeing.
• To help collect resources and services on mental health which are accessible for young girls in the English/Zulu-speaking belt in South Africa, as well as to guide on vetting these services.
• To support Girl Effect in developing appropriate and sensitive content on health, emotional wellbeing and self-care to ensure Girl Effect does no harm to girls through its digital engagement.
• Review, vet and guide Girl Effect’s content creation process on mental health literacy and wellbeing concerns to ensure these are appropriate, sensitive to user needs and aligned with guidance on mental health and its linkage with SRH of adolescent and young girls.

Expected Commitment

This will be a part-time consultancy contract for an initial period of six months, subject to renewal based on future needs. The consultant is expected to commit a minimum of 12 hours a month (i.e. 4 hours per week), which can vary depending on our budget and your fee requirement.

Location

The consultant will be based in South Africa and must be conducive to working with teams in the UK, Sub-Saharan Africa and India.

Intended Timeframe

• Terms of reference published: 24 June 2022
• Deadline for responses: 08 July 2022
• Supplier selection, contracting and briefing: End July
• Project commencement: August

Who You Are

Experience

• Advanced degree in clinical psychology or psychiatry with a clinical license to provide psychological counselling and/or psychotherapy.
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in group and individual therapy with children, adolescents and/or young people, especially from vulnerable, marginalised, low-income communities.
• Additional certification or training in relevant fields, including child psychology, stress management, cognitive behaviour therapy, etc., will be desirable.
• Experience in developing, adapting and designing content for different audiences, especially those not well-versed in medical/technical literature.
• Experience or, at the very least, familiarity with addressing mental health concerns in the digital world (including use of the internet, social media and cyberbullying).
• Good understanding of gender-specific issues affecting adolescent girls and how mental health/wellbeing-based interventions can contribute to girls’ empowerment.

Skills and expertise

• Effective communicator and writer in English and Zulu with the ability to synthesize, communicate and simplify language complex concepts as per the needs of girls and young women.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills and experience working in a multicultural team across multiple countries. Sensitivity to cultural differences is essential.
• Ability to be flexible within a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Commitment to realising the potential of girls and to the vision and values of Girl Effect.

Reporting

This engagement will be managed by GE’s Global Gender Manager, who will work with the successful consultant to ensure its timely and thorough execution.

Proposal Submission

Interested consultants are asked to submit the following to support their candidature (Max 5-10 pages):

• Your understanding of the brief and why you feel you are well placed to advise us on this
• Contact details of three referees that can attest to the scope and magnitude of similar assignments
• CV with a cover letter
• Proposed consultancy fees
• Copies of your publications or reports to support your proposal

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are listed below:

Technical Evaluation

• Interpretation and understanding of this TOR-10%
• Staff with relevant experience as demonstrated by their CV – 25%
• Geographical experience in South Africa – 5%
• Demonstrated technical knowledge in the field of clinical psychology or counselling – 20%
• Evidence of a minimum of three contactable references – 10%

Financial Evaluation

• Value for money/proposed budget breakdown – 30%

Please note that GE is not liable for any cost incurred during the award/contract preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of GE.

Equal Opportunities

Girl Effect is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is truly representative of the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy services of organizations and individuals with a deep understanding and experience of our programming markets and with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.

Safeguarding

You may be required to undertake safeguarding checks. Shortlisted consultants will be assessed on our organisational values at the interview stage. The successful consultant will be expected to adhere to our safeguarding policy. We encourage you to read and understand our safeguarding policy, the executive summary of which can be found here. We have zero-tolerance for all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff.

Tax

Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of their local jurisdiction tax legislation when developing their proposals.

Disclaimer

GE reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GE shall inform the ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow.