Note: Closing date of this vacancy is extended to: 11 March 2020 (5 pm New York time)
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENT (FAST TRACK)
Duration: 364 days
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The Position:
Under the overall guidance of the Head of Sub-Office in Cox’s Bazar, and with direct MHPSS supervision of the GBViE Programme Specialist, the MHPSS will provide high technical assistance and support to increase the capacity UNFPA and implementing partner staff to deliver services in compliance with IASC Guidelines for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings.
How you can make a difference:
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s new strategic plan (2018-2021), focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in the provision of Humanitarian Response and Nexus Development programme results.
Job Purpose:
Since August 2017, targeted violence against Rohingya communities in Rakhine State, Myanmar forced over 728,000 people to flee into Bangladesh. More than half of these new arrivals are women and girls. Refugees, especially women and girls are being disproportionately affected by GBV including rape, conflict-related sexual violence, intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, child and forced marriages, sexual exploitation, survival sex, and forced engagement in the drug and sex trades. Before flight, communities living in Rakhine state had already been exposed for decades to numerous daily stressors, with repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events.
As humanitarian actors have scaled up their operations in Cox’s Bazar district to respond to the needs of this vast population influx, UNFPA is providing GBV and SRH services to meet the health and protection needs of women and girls who have experienced violence, denial of reproductive health rights and resources, and serious psychosocial distress. UNFPA’s interventions also include host communities, where local women and girls face protection risks and have limited access to public services for GBV, SRH, and mental health care.
Under its global mandate to address GBV in humanitarian settings, UNFPA is committed to ensuring that the needs of GBV survivors are met through adequate health responses, psychosocial support and case management in line with international guidelines. It is vital that responders have the capacity to provide quality response services, which in the Cox’s Bazar refugee and host populations must include competent and appropriate MHPSS care.
The position will be based in Cox’s Bazar with frequent travel to camps and host communities in the Cox’s Bazar region.
Requirements:
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
• Advanced degree with specialization in areas such as clinical psychology, psychosocial implementation, clinical social work, mental health or related area
Knowledge and Experience:
• At least 5 years of specialized experience in community based psychosocial support interventions particularly as it relates to GBV.
• Experience in GBV/MHPSS at international level in a humanitarian context.
• Experience in South Asia region is an asset.
• Experience with integrated MHPSS and GBV case management is an asset.
• Demonstrated knowledge of IASC Guidelines on MHPSS in Emergency Settings
• Demonstrated experience of training, supervision, and mentoring of non-professional counselling staff.
Languages:
Fluency in English; knowledge of other official UN languages is desirable.