MHPSS and Infectious Disease Consultant – Staff Wellbeing

I. Background

When major disease outbreaks occur, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are often on the frontlines, using their deep connections with affected communities and expertise to support outbreak readiness and response. READY, an initiative funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and led by Save the Children and a consortium of partners, is supporting NGOs to more effectively respond to major disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings. Through investments in a robust and diverse capacity-strengthening portfolio, knowledge and best-practice sharing, and engagement with key coordination groups to identify and respond to real-time needs, READY is equipping national and international humanitarian NGOs with knowledge and skills to be ready to respond to major disease outbreaks through integrated and communitycentred approaches. READY’s approach is integrated, and works to bring together Maternal, Newborn and Reproductive Health, Child Protection, Agriculture and Food Security, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Nutrition and cross-cutting issues such as risk communication and community engagement and gender. For more information about READY, visit us at www.ready-initiative.org.

COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of staff well-being in responding to infectious disease outbreaks. Humanitarian NGO workers who are responding to infectious disease outbreaks are often among the most exposed to high levels of stress, risks of infection, and other associated risks. Multiple stressors play a role in our well-being including unique personal stressors related to life outside of work, common work-related stressors that would be found in any work environment, and very specific and often intense stressors related to the type of work NGOs who are responding to infectious disease outbreaks does to support children and families in need around the world. In many contexts, NGO staff members experience prolonged periods of intense stress related to living and working in communities affected by conflict, natural disasters, infectious disease, and other crisis. Some staff members are part of the local communities affected by such intense stressors, whereas others are directly exposed for temporary periods of time related to short term support visits or temporary deployments.

Currently, there are multiple findings, reports and guidelines highlighting importance of ensuring staff wellbeing in infectious disease outbreaks available for humanitarian agencies, INGOs and local NGOs. These documents mainly focus on specific infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola and COVID-19. The InterAgency Standing Committee (IASC) MHPSS Reference Group established a working group focused on developing a global staff well-being guidance document to highlight the importance of staff well-being among humanitarian agencies worldwide. However, specific global guidance notes with operational guidance focusing on staff well-being of NGO humanitarian staff responding to infectious disease outbreaks is missing.

Hence, READY will adapt and build on Save the Children’s Staff Well-being Guidance Note and link with the IASC MHPSS Reference Group working group to develop a global staff well-being guidance with operational guidance for national and international NGOs and other stakeholders who are preparing for and responding to infectious disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings (e.g. healthcare workers, social workers, case workers, volunteers, etc.).

II. Consultancy Objectives

• Using a desk review and consultative process that engages key MHPSS, staff well-being, humanitarian and infectious disease readiness and response stakeholders, develop a Staff Well-being guidance note with operational guidance for national and international NGOs responding to infectious disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings.

• The desk review will focus on available inter-agency and other relevant global and regional/national MHPSS and staff well-being resources with additional focus on infectious disease outbreaks.

• The consultative process will engage other key technical and programmatic global forums such as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) MHPSS Reference Group and its relevant Working Groups, representatives of relevant global humanitarian agencies and bodies such as Save the Children and others.

III. Tasks

• Develop detailed workplan and timeline for proposed activity, including review periods at key milestones for READY and donor representatives

• Review existing documents/mapping (including drafts) of resources, tools, training and literature related to MHPSS and staff well-being in emergency response with special focus on infectious disease outbreaks in humanitarian settings

• Conduct interviews with key informants from IASC MHPSS Reference Group, WHO, Global Health Cluster, UNICEF, national and international NGO humanitarian representatives, other experts in the humanitarian staff well-being field, infectious disease and MHPSS experts, to inform content of the Staff Well-being guidance note with operational guidance for national and international NGOs responding to infectious disease outbreaks.

• Participate in regular consultation and supervisory meetings with READY MHPSS Technical Advisor and others as relevant throughout the process.

• Draft the outline and review the Staff Well-being guidance note with operational guidance for national and international NGOs responding to infectious disease outbreaks with READY MHPSS TA and other relevant technical colleagues as appropriate

• Based on finalized outline, draft the Staff Well-being guidance note and review with READY MHPSS TA and other relevant technical colleagues and donor representatives as appropriate.

• Seek feedback from external technical advisory groups such as the MHPSS Reference Group with the help of the READY MHPSS TA. Revise and finalize the Staff Well-being guidance note based on this feedback into final word version for review and endorsement. Develop PPT presentation of process and key elements of the Guidance Note

IV. Deliverables

• Detailed workplan, including timeline, milestone, etc.

• Develop key informant interviews guide for consultations • Documentation of consultation findings

• Draft outline for the Staff Well-being guidance notes with operational guidance for national and international NGOs responding to infectious disease outbreaks • Draft(s) of the Staff Well-being guidance note (more than one draft may be needed depending of quality of first draft and reviewer feedback)

• Final Staff Well-being guidance note with operational guidance for national and international NGOs responding to infectious disease outbreaks document

• Develop a presentation and support dissemination of the Staff Well-being guidance note through meetings/webinars such as the READY webinars, with READY MHPSS Technical Advisor and other colleagues as appropriate

• Leadership and engagement in the planning and execution of webinar launch event

V. Qualifications needed

• Expertise and experience with staff wellbeing and MHPSS in humanitarian organizational settings

• Experience in engaging with key stakeholder groups and coordination mechanisms such as the InterAgency Standing Committee (IASC), WHO and relevant global INGOs on staff well-being in humanitarian settings, public health/ outbreak response and MHPSS

• Knowledge of humanitarian response architecture and staff well-being integration

• Excellent English oral and written skills

• Skills in using online platforms for consultations

• Academic and/or technical background in social sciences, mental health or MHPSS in humanitarian settings is essential

• Master degree in social sciences, mental health or similar degree is a minimum

How to apply

Please submit your CV and letter of application Fasika Gebru, READY Senior Associate, at [email protected], detailing how you would approach this assignment (max. 2 pages) and your daily rate by September 30, 2022