Sector: Health
Location: Tanzania
Employee Type: Regular
Employee Category: Full Time
Description
Background:
Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a leading international organization working in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those affected by the world’s worst humanitarian crises. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, the IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) Tanzania is present in the Kigoma Region, Northwestern Tanzania, providing services in one remaining refugee camp in Kasulu District and at a transit centre in Kigoma town. Approximately 65,000 Congolese receive protection and basic assistance in the areas of Education, Child Protection, Community-based Rehabilitation (care for disabled), Vulnerable Care, Youth & Development and Women’s Protection and Empowerment/Gender-Based Violence (WPE/GBV). However Since May 2015, thousands of Burundians displaced by the conflict in Burundi continue to arrive in Tanzania on a daily basis. The population of Burundians currently living in Nyarugusu, Nduta and other transit sites in Tanzania is 128,725 [1]. On 7th October 2015, the government of the United Republic of Tanzania opened Nduta refugee camp which today hosts 32% (41,708) of all Burundian refugees in Tanzania relocated from Nyarugusu and the daily new arrivals. On 14th January 2015 Mtendeli was opened and currently hosts close to 1,000 refugees with a plan to relocate up to 15,000 refugees from Nyarugusu by March 2016.
Scope of work:
Under supervision of the Senior Health Coordinator the overall responsibilities of the position include improvement of the quality of care provided by the mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) staff, assuring the standardization of treatment protocols and quality assurance activities. The MHPSS Senior Manager will be responsible for providing overall supervision and technical guidance to the MHPSS Manager(s), MHPSS Officers, and Incentive Staff on the effective delivery of quality community mental health and psychosocial support services involving detection, management, and the non-pharmacological treatment of people with mental health and psychosocial concerns while linking with the health provider in the camp. The MHPSS Senior Manager will also co-chair the MHPSS Working Group with UNHCR and create and establish standard operating procedures and a robust referral network for service users and ensure high quality mental health program in line with national and international standards. This will be in close coordination with partners in the MHPSS referral network, including the IRC’s Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE), Child Protection (CP) and Reproductive Health, Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and Education teams and other camp actors. The position is located in Kibondo with extensive travel to Kasulu and Kigoma.
Deliverables:
Work together with the MHPSS Manager(s) to conduct an assessment on the current referral pathways for clients with mental health or psychosocial concerns (both in the community and throughout the formal service providers) and develop a standard referral pathway and to ensure that clients are receiving quality services. Specially looking at the services that MSF, TRCS, and IRC provides.
Institute screening tools/protocols for Protection staff, RH staff, MHPSS Officers, and Mental Health incentive staff.
Support the MHPSS Manager(s) to supervise the MHPSS Officer and Incentive Workers to ensure that MHPSS is being integrated into IRC’s existing programming and not existing as a standalone program.
Promote and develop community-based PSS initiatives specific to the needs of girls, boys, women, and men, such as group and community-oriented discussions, provide psychoeducation to the camp population on mental health issues and on the ways how to deal with possible mental health and psychosocial concerns.
Support the MHPSS Manager(s) to collect data based on the program indicators, objectives, outputs, and impact and write MHPSS reports to be delivered to donors and IRC headquarters.
Establish and run the MHPSS Working Group in collaboration with UNHCR.
Work with the Research Program Coordinator to support the “Group psychological help for young adolescents impaired by distress in communities exposed to adversity” research project to establish supervision mechanisms for the implementation staff.
Work together with WPE, CP, RH, CBR and Education Coordinators to establish procedures for clients who are experiencing emotional distress and develop and facilitate training to equip them with the skills and practical skills to provide psyshcoeducation and referrals to clients.
Support the development of mental health awareness materials for common stress reactions, psychosocial well-being, and positive coping mechanisms collaboratively with the refugee population and other partners.
Complete a strategy document on IRC’s MHPSS approach to be shared with staff, donors, and partner organizations.
Build external partnerships with local and international MHPSS organizations and advocate for the expansion of MHPSS services for refugees living in Tanzania.
Support the grants team to write multi-sector grants inclusive of MHPSS and MHPSS specific grants.
Essential:
The qualified candidate must be psychologist, social worker, or public health professional with extensive psychosocial programming experience with 5 + years’ experience in setting up, implementing and supervising MHPSS programs at national and international levels.
Knowledge of and experience in using established inter-agency standards and guidelines in MHPSS and child protection, such as the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings.
In depth knowledge of psychosocial programming in the humanitarian context and in depth understanding of the consequences of violence and displacement.
Knowledge and experience writing multi-sector grants and MHPSS specific grants.
Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work within different cultural environments.
Honest, hardworking and a self-motivated person able to work in a dynamic environment
Ability to work within a team structure or in isolation, flexible, and can cope with stressful workloads and working with limited resources.
An excellent command of verbal and written English.
French and Kirundi languages would be a plus.
Standards for Professional Conduct:
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability
IRC leading the way from harm to home.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
If you need assistance in the application or hiring process to accommodate a disability, you may request an accommodation at any time. Please contact Talent Acquisitions at IRC.Recruitment@rescue.org. As required by law, the IRC will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with a known disability
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Program Coordinator, Psychological Intervention for Adolescents
Sector: Health
Location: Tanzania
Employee Type: Regular
Employee Category: Full Time
Description
Background/IRC Summary: IRC Tanzania helps refugees achieve durable solutions by delivering life-saving and life-sustaining services to camp-based refugees. The IRC also supports local Tanzanian communities with protection and capacity building programs that promote a safer, more protective environment for at-risk community members, particularly children. IRC Tanzania’s current sectors include Gender-Based Violence, Child Protection Youth and Livelihoods, Reproductive Health, Community-Based Rehabilitation, Education, and Mental Health.
Job Overview/Summary: IRC’s Tanzania health program is recruiting a Program Coordinator to test a new psychological intervention for 60 young adolescent refugees in Tanzania, ages 10 – 14, with prolonged disabling distress living in communities affected by adversity. It also includes an intervention to concurrently support their parents/caregivers. This program aims to address both psychological (e.g. stress, fear, feelings of helplessness) and, where possible, environmental (e.g. livelihood problems, interpersonal conflict) problems, experienced either by the young people or their parents/caregivers. This pilot intervention will be implemented by the IRC in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Major Responsibilities
The Program Coordinator will be responsible to:
Lead the process evaluation of this pilot, including:
work with research team to propose sampling framework, identify key questions
hire and train data collectors as needed
collect & enter data
Manage the data collection for this pilot, including:
develop a clinical supervision schedule & data collection protocol
work with the MHPSS Coordinator to provide data collection training to the incentive workers
lead day-to-day data collection efforts and logistics, including regular debriefs with incentive workers
work with the research team to ensure compliance with ethical requirement and the IRC Child Safeguarding Policy , and to plan regular check-ins on data collection protocols to ensure client safety
Develop the data monitoring & evaluation (M&E) system, with the support of the Regional Monitoring Coordinator (based in Nairobi), including:
develop an efficient filing system for the 60 case files/ case notes collected during intervention phase
ensure client files are stored in confidential manner up to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) data storage procedures
Analyze data and write reports, in collaboration with the research team
Coordinate regular communications with relevant IRC technical units (Health and Research), the external research partners (WHO and JHU), and the IRC Tanzania mental health coordinator(s), including:
organize regular research & program team meetings
organize annual research team meetings
provide regular updates to MHPSS coordinator on progress/ challenges during MHPSS monthly team/ working group meeting
Oversee the project budget
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Deputy Director of Programs, IRC Tanzania
Position directly supervises: Data collection surveyors (short-term)
Indirect Reporting: This Program Coordinator will receive technical supervision from the Mental Health Technical Advisor and the Research, Evaluation and Learning Advisor
Other Internal and/or external contacts:
Internal: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Coordinator and Senior Health Coordinator, IRC Tanzania
External: Research partners at World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins University
Job Requirements:
Education: Masters or PhD degree in health discipline; mental health/psychological expertise preferred
Work Experience:
Demonstrated experience in managing data collections, supervision and training of surveyors in M&E and/or applied research
Demonstrated experience in design and use of project design tools, project/grant management tools, data collection and monitoring and evaluation systems
Demonstrated experience building data collection capacity of local research teams
Experience working in unstable areas and in African refugee settings is a strong asset
Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:
A dynamic and flexible individual with leadership skills
Strong communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills
Proven self-initiative and problem solving abilities
Willingness to travel to insecure areas within the constraints of IRC Uganda's security policy
Ability to work under pressure and handle multiple priorities
Demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies and as a team player
Solid knowledge of data management and statistical analysis packages, including SPSS and STATA
Language Skills: English fluency is required. Knowledge of local languages a strong asset.
Working Environment: Lodging in Kibondo is in a shared IRC guesthouse, together with other IRC staff. All IRC sites have electricity and internet. This position is unaccompanied.
The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.
IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l’Intégrité, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection de l’enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l’intégrité financière, et les représailles.
IRC leading the way from harm to home.
IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
If you need assistance in the application or hiring process to accommodate a disability, you may request an accommodation at any time. Please contact Talent Acquisitions at IRC.Recruitment@rescue.org. As required by law, the IRC will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with a known disability.
APPLY ONLINE