MHPSS Regional Technical Coordinator, Central Africa 66 views0 applications

Program Summary Invisible Children is seeking an experienced MHPSS professional to lead strategic development and ensure high quality of IC’s MHPSS interventions in Central Africa.

The MHPSS Technical Coordinator will be responsible to define regional strategic direction for the organization within the sector and to provide technical advisement to country programming and teams to ensure the design and management of MHPSS programs adhere to international guidelines and standards

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Define IC MHPSS strategy of intervention for the Central African Region
• Design IC MHPSS interventions for the Central African Region
• Guarantee technical quality of IC MHPSS interventions in the Central African Region
• Facilitate sharing of tools, best practices, successes and lessons learned within IC teams and among MHPSS stakeholders
• Ensure representation in relevant regional/national coordination and stakeholder bodies

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Lead drafting of technical proposals for future projects and programs: Technical (e.g., methodology; M&E indicator, analysis and reporting; etc.) and operational (e.g., staffing, assets, work and implementation planning, etc.) in relationship to MHPSS programming.
• Support trouble-shooting of necessary adjustments to ongoing programs, including budget and project implementation considerations to Result 4 of the CRCA Project.
• Coordinate and monitor the implementation of ongoing MHPSS programming in Central Africa (currently only in Central African Republic), including USAID’s CRCA (85%) and a small trauma awareness component in US State Department project titled “Civilian Protection Through Community Connection” (15%).
• Manage and provide technical supervision to IC MHPSS technical program staff: Currently 2 field-based national psychologist (Obo and Zemio) with roving responsibilities throughout the Mbomou-Yuele region; possibility of additional staff in the future.
• Coordination and program status updating with Chief of Party, Deputy Chief of Party, Head(s) of Base(s), relevant Program Manager(s).
• Coordination with Implementing Partners for the implementation and monitoring of programs.
• Coordinate and plan the procurement and distribution of program assets and goods.
• Design and ensure appropriate functioning of monitoring systems related to program implementation and use of goods and resources.
• Provide regular/ongoing technical guidance and support for MHPSS program related trainings and supervision, as needed.
• Conduct regular field visits to monitor and evaluate the implementation of program activities (e.g., on-site observational supervision of IC technical program staff and Implementing Partner staff, monitoring of programmatic documentation).
• Act as ‘technical hiring manager’ of future MHPSS program staff recruitment processes.
• Represent IC at the national level through attendance in relevant coordination body meetings (e.g., MHPSS WG) and with key stakeholders (e.g., relevant government offices, UN Agencies, INGOs, NNGOs, Civil Society Organizations).
• Report regularly on the above responsibilities and duties.

QUALIFICATIONS & CORE COMPETENCIES:

• The qualified candidate is a mental health professional (psychologist, clinical social worker, or psychiatrist) with experience in MHPSS program management and coordination.
• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience managing and coordinating MHPSS projects in humanitarian settings (experience with remote management an asset).
• Knowledgeable in and experience utilizing and following IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings and international best practices in the sector.
• Demonstrable experience preparing successful funding proposals.
• Demonstrable technical expertise in the assessment, design, and delivery of responses to pre-existing and conflict induced MHPSS needs.
• Demonstrable expertise in MHPSS program development (i.e., defining activities, developing and managing budgets, defining M&E indicators and analysis and reporting schedules).
• Demonstrable expertise in development of technical resources and tools, including: training manuals, protocols and M&E tools for data collection.
• Demonstrable capacity and proven track record in national staff and partner training, capacity-building and supervision.
• Strong organizational and supervisory skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in different cultural environments.
• Ability to work within a team structure or independently, flexible and able to cope with a stressful workload in high-risk environments.
• Ability to work in written and spoken French (El/required).
• Accountable, motivated, collaborative, creative, hardworking, and honest.
• Previous experience working with INGO(s) in insecure, conflict and post-conflict settings (asset)
• Commitment to and understanding of humanitarian principles and Code of Conduct
• Experience working in Central Africa and ability to work in spoken and written English (an asset).
• Demonstrable expertise in MHPSS program development (i.e., defining activities, developing and managing budgets, defining M&E indicators and analysis and reporting schedules).

Project Overview: USAID-funded Community Resilience in Central Africa (CRCA) In central Africa’s Mbomou-Uele border region, spanning north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and eastern

Central African Republic (CAR), armed groups, often fuelled by illicit natural resource exploitation, perpetuate cycles of violence that inflict trauma, undermine livelihoods, and exacerbate intercommunal tensions. The USAID-funded Community Resilience in Central Africa (CRCA) Activity builds on Invisible Children’s (IC) well-established programs and partnerships across the region to strengthen community resilience in response to these threats, while reinforcing conservation initiatives that aim to cut off armed groups from key revenue streams. CRCA aims to equip at least 118 target communities with the skills and tools to reduce their exposure and equip them to mitigate risks from security threats, to recover from conflict-induced trauma (20 target communities), peacefully transform intercommunal conflicts (30 target communities) while pursuing livelihood activities (30 communities). By doing so, CRCA will achieve progress toward a future in which civilians and wildlife are connected less by the mutual threats they have faced, and more by the thriving interdependence they share.

CRCA is one of multiple projects contributing to a Joint Results Framework developed by USAID with the ultimate objective to strengthen community resilience and improve wildlife conservation in the Mboumou-Uele border region. In addition to CRCA, the Joint Results Framework includes two conservation-focused projects funded through USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) and implemented by conservation organization African Parks Network. Together, CRCA and the CARPE projects will achieve the following Intermediate Results (IRs):

• IR 1: Strengthened capacity for wildlife conservation in Garamba National Park, Chinko Reserve, and other protected areas (NOTE: CRCA is not responsible for this IR)
• IR 2: Communities enabled to mitigate and adapt to security and conservation threats
• IR 3: Target communities enabled to pursue pro-conservation livelihoods and basic needs
• IR 4: Vulnerable populations’ recovery from trauma facilitated
• IR 5: Key inter-communal conflicts resolved

CRCA launched in October 2017, with the first year of the project primarily focused on operational ramp-up and the design and implementation of activities associated with IR 2 (Communities enabled to mitigate and adapt to security and conservation threats). CRCA is now in Quarter One of Year Two, which entails a stronger focus on the design and implementation of activities associated with IR 4 (Vulnerable populations’ recovery from trauma facilitated).

INTERMEDIATE RESULT 4 Overview:

Vulnerable populations’ recovery from trauma facilitated Instability in the Mbomou-Uele border region, especially due to the presence of armed groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has uprooted several communities and disrupted social dynamics. Survivors of the conflict often struggle with trauma and even stigmatization in their own communities. Future security and stability in the region depend, in part, on the extent to which people are integrated back into communities. However, targeting only ex-combatants for reintegration, especially in a region with such extreme poverty and protracted violence, risks fuelling resentment and can thus be counter-productive. Reintegration and trauma healing support is needed by a wide range of people, including victims, former combatants, and host communities.

At present, the core approach to addressing vulnerable populations’ recovery from trauma stems from the creation of 20 Community Counsellor Teams (CCTs) who will be mobilized to provide community-based trauma healing seminars. Through this practice, the intended CRCA result will be to have a “reduced level of trauma and enhanced community acceptance of returnees from armed groups.”

CRCA’s IR 4 activities will include the provision of both community-based psychosocial services (sub-IR 4.1) and psychosocial services to High Needs Individuals (HNIs) (sub-IR 4.2).

To date, CRCA has planned for several activities under IR 4, including:

• Coordinating support for returnees from armed groups through community training on family tracing protocols.
• Development of an enhanced system for tracking and supporting the family tracing and repatriation of escapees.
• Assessment of the trauma healing and reintegration services available for the population in need with the eventual introduction of support provisions for trauma healing and reintegration services.
• Selection and Training of 20 Community Counsellor Teams (CCTs) with updated training modules, including working to support and develop referral pathways for “High Needs Individuals (HNIs)” to reference hospitals.
• Trauma-Healing counseling for High Needs Individuals
• Community-based trauma-healing seminars by the CCTs
• Awareness-raising sessions with local stakeholders for “traumatized persons”
• Outreach sessions within 20 communities and follow up sessions to address PSS and GBV issues in the community.
• Support for reunification and reintegration of returnees from armed groups. **