STAFF Care – Psychosocial Consultant

Terms of Reference

STAFF CARE – PSYCHOSOCIAL CONSULTANT

1. Background

• Humanity & Inclusion

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL runs its projects under its operating name Humanity and inclusion (HI) is an independent and impartial international aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, HI’s actions and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights. HI is currently implementing projects in more than 60 countries worldwide, including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) and Iraq.

Handicap International is a not-for-profit organization with no religious or political affiliation. It operates as a federation made up of a network of associations that provide it with human and financial resources, manage its projects and implement its actions and social mission.

For more details on the association: https://hi.org

• HI in the Middle-East:

HI is managing a humanitarian program in the Middle East region and is present in four countries, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) employing many national employees. HI is implementing a wide range of activities from long-term development projects and recovery to response to emergencies, though five main sectors of intervention: Prevention & Health (Early Child Development, MHPSS), Inclusive Education, Economic Inclusion (Basic Needs Assistance, Economic Recovery), Physical and Functional Rehabilitation, Armed Violence Reduction.

2. Objective of the Assignment

HI seeks a Psychosocial technical specialist to provide a collective psychosocial support session for HI’s staff in addition to individual support sessions for staff members who are in need for more in-depth individual support sessions in Palestine. The aim of hiring the specialist is to support the psychosocial well-being of HI’s staff who are living the current situation of the war on Gaza, and the escalation on the West Bank and Jerusalem, and who are in touch with end beneficiaries in which case they are exposed to different vulnerable people’s experiences. The number of staff concerned is approximately 133 (Jerusalem: 9 Staff / WB: 24 Staff / GAZA: 100 Staff).

In details, the objective is to provide psychosocial services to HI national staff with maximum of 400 hours for individual sessions (total) and maximum of 20 group sessions for the period of one year as below:

1. Provide at least 1 introduction session to inform staff on the service and general information on staff care, this session to take place face to face or online depending on the capacity to organize it, and to present the list of services the consultant is able to deliver to the team
2. Provide individual psychological support sessions to the staff members preferably face-to-face sessions, but also by phone, Teams, zoom as needed, to a maximum of 6 individual sessions per staff per calendar year,
3. Upon HI provision of staff list to the service provider, staff are free to contact the specialist for support, within the range of the 6 sessions that would be introduced, and in case referral to other external sources is needed then HI will be notified of that by the specialist so that HI can consider adding sessions according to the need or seeking other alternatives.
4. The company / firm / institution should be gender-balanced (male and female), based on the needs of the staff and taking in consideration the potential sensitivity of situations.

5. Group psychological support sessions
6. Practice analysis sessions for MHPSS staff
7. Group or individual defusing sessions in the event of a critical incident
8. Group training sessions on stress management or other subjects to be defined.

3. Scope of Work

The psychosocial support specialist will develop a detailed plan for the implementation of collective and individual psychosocial support sessions including the aim of the intervention, expected results, set of the session activities that will be implemented, and the timeframe of the activity.

Sessions can be delivered face to face or via Teams/phone/Zoom, depending on the situations/conditions. The PSS specialist is responsible for transportation, accommodation, travel allowance, and all costs associated with the trip to HI’s different offices

The place of performance is Palestine, and in these areas: Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Gaza. The service shall start on the 1st of December 2024  for a period of 1 year.

During the performance of the service, the consultant will be required to work in liaison with HI’s Human Resources teams and notably with HI’s Human Resources and Administration Manager who will be his/her contact person.

All written reports and correspondences will be done in English language.

Modalities:

• For members of the team

Six personal and confidential codes will be given to each employee on the mission. Only the HR Manager and, in his or her absence, an HR representative will know to which employees these codes correspond, both of whom are bound by confidentiality.

The contact details of a psychologist will be forwarded to the employees, who will be able to contact him or her directly to arrange a confidential meeting at the earliest opportunity.

• For the psychologists

At each appointment, the psychologist will ask the beneficiary for his or her HI staff number and code. The psychologist will check that the person is on the list of HI staff, which is updated and sent to him or her on a regular basis by the HR Manager.

At the end of each quarter, the psychologist will invoice HI for the number of consultations carried out, indicating the codes on the invoice (just the codes, and not the HI registration numbers, in order to respect confidentiality).

• Request for additional consultations

If more consultations are deemed necessary, and in agreement with the beneficiary (staff member), the psychologist will contact the HR Manager to request additional sessions. Any additional sessions carried out without prior approval from HI shall not be paid by HI.

• Communication with HI

The psychologist is bound by professional secrecy and is not required to reveal the information communicated to him or her by members of the team during consultations.  Confidentiality may only be breached in an emergency, i.e. if the person concerned represents a danger to themselves or to others, and with prior notice to the person concerned. In this case, the psychologist should alert the HR manager.

However, the psychologist may make recommendations with a view to contributing to the well-being of the staff concerned by the service. If an alert needs to be raised concerning the impact of certain activities or the organisation of HI's work on the mental health of teams, it should also be addressed to the HR Manager on a blanket basis and with respect for anonymity.

• Reports and documentation

The psychologist undertakes to submit a half-yearly report to HI on the services provided. The report should include the following information:

• Number of sessions carried out by type (individual, group, training, etc.) and number of people involved, broken down by gender.
• An analysis of pre-test / post-test variances (to assess the person's state of mental health), respecting confidentiality.
• Any recommendations

4. Expected Results of the Consultancy

By the end of this consultancy, HI staff will be able to identify causes of stress and adopt skills to cope with difficulties resulted from emergencies, in addition to the psychosocial impact of their work.

5. Expertise required

Experience

• Education degree in mental health or psychology or related science with proven long experience working in field of adults' psychosocial support. Licensed as a Psychotherapist is a plus.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience, preferably in the field of Mental Health or psychosocial support.
• A previous work experience in humanitarian mental health psychosocial support (MHPSS) or with INGOs is preferred.
• Knowledge and experience providing individual and group staff support activities.
• Cross-cultural working experience in the field of staff care and psychosocial support.
• Strong work ethics and commitment to humanitarian issues.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills in a dynamic, multicultural setting.
• Proven reliability in the delivery of timely and quality services.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Sound understanding of professional ethics as they apply to mental health and employee care.
• Positive, innovative, inspirational and problem solving attitude.

Languages:

• Arabic: Native speaker
• English: excellent command in English written and spoken

6. Timeframe and Location

The dates of the service provision, the modalities as well as the location will be agreed once the successful service provider has been agreed.

7. Applications procedures

7.1 Preparation of Proposals

The Consultant shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of its Proposal and HI shall not be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the selection process. HI is not bound to accept any proposal, and reserves the right to annul the selection process at any time prior to Contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the Consultant.

7.1.1     The Proposal, as well as all correspondence and documents relating to the Proposal exchanged between the Consultant and HI, shall be written in English

7.1.2     Proposals must remain valid for 90 calendar days after the proposal submission deadline, during this period; the Consultant shall maintain its original Proposal without any change, including the availability of the Key Experts, the proposed rates and the total price;

• HI will make its best effort to complete the negotiations within the proposal’s validity period. However, should the need arise, the Client may request, in writing, all Consultants who submitted Proposals prior to the submission deadline to extend the Proposals’ validity;
• The Consultant has the right to refuse to extend the validity of its Proposal in which case such Proposal will not be further evaluated.

Technical Proposal The following documents must be included in the Technical proposal:

• A list of proposed actions (work plan) in accordance with the terms of reference with the methodology of implementation
• The work plan should give a clear description of how the consultant intends to approach the activities necessary to the services’ completion
• The expected results
• The evaluation forms (needs assessment, pre/post-test and final evaluation)
• Specialists’ CVs detailing relevant skills and experience of the consultant and her/his team of no more than 3 pages each, including contactable referees. In case of team of experts, the team leader must be clarified.
• Copy of degrees in Psychology or related science of all specialists.
• Proven previous experience.

• Financial Proposal

7.3.1  The Financial Proposal shall list all costs associated with the assignment, inclusive of all taxes, insurances, transportations…etc. and shall include all materials needed for the consultancy.

• The offer should also include the cost of follow-up sessions should staff need any thereafter.
• Deduction is subject to Palestine income tax law

• Administrative Documentation
  • Legal and valid registration in the country.
  • Evidence that government taxes have been paid.

7.4.3 The consultant(s) are responsible for personal/life/travel and health insurance for themselves and their team(s).

• Proof that the Service Provider has paid social security contributions.

• Proposals Submission Process

Complete applications should be sent (stamped, signed) via email:

[email protected] Or to the organization office in Jerusalem (Al Bayan Street #5, Al Sahel Area, Shu ‘fat )/ to West Bank Office in Ramallah (Massayef, Mikkawi Building/ Floor 8) or to our Gaza offices in sealed envelope.

Applications submitted by email should indicate as subject: Psychosocial Consultant– service provider

Deadline for submission of applications: 25 November 2024.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Selected applicants may be invited for interview.

• Professional standards

HI service provider must adhere to the values and principles outlined in HI Code of conduct.  In accordance with these values, HI operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-fraud, bribery, and corruption.”