Bangladesh: Psychosocial Support Delegate

Since January 2017, IFRC has been supporting BDRCS in responding to the needs of people fleeing from Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh. The initial response started after an upsurge of violence in the northern areas of Rakhine during October 2016 prompted local Muslim populations to cross the border into Bangladesh in large numbers. As the initial Population Movement Emergency Appeal operation took shape, on 25 August 2017, a new influx started as thousands fled a new wave violence in northern areas of Rakhine. Since 25 August, more than 624,000 persons have arrived, most of them women and children. According to the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), the latest influx has resulted in an increase of People from Rakhine (PfR) to a total of 836,000. There are four categories of PfR: 1) registered individuals with refugee status living in camps managed by UNHCR since 1992; 2) older undocumented PfR since 1993; 3) new undocumented PfR since October 2016; and 4) newer PfR who started crossing into Bangladesh on 25 August 2017. Most of them are concentrated in Cox’s Bazar District, spread across a variety of settlements: registered refugee camps, makeshift settlements, spontaneous settlements and with the host community. PfR continue to cross every day, making the crisis one of the largest and most complex in the region in decades.

In response to the massive upsurge in humanitarian needs, IFRC issued a Revised Emergency Appeal for CHF 12.76 million on 14 September and deployed various components of its Global Response Tools1, with specialists and units covering a wide range of sectors. The scale of needs has since increased exponentially and on 10 October IFRC categorized the situation as ‘Red’ level crisis according to the IFRC Emergency Response Framework, making it an organization-wide priority for the IFRC Secretariat at all levels. Linked to this, a further scale-up of the IFRC response was done on 23 October with issuance of another Emergency Appeal Revision which increased the ask to CHF 33.5 million. The operation aims to meet the humanitarian needs of 200,000 persons through timely and effective emergency relief alongside medium and longer-term interventions to support the safety, dignity and resilience of PfR and host communities. The GRTs are playing a crucial role in delivering assistance in Cox’s Bazar, with current focus on providing assistance to the newly-displaced PfR arriving since 25 August 2017. Looking ahead, and to ensure a swift transition from surge to longer-term roles, IFRC has initiated the process of recruiting management, technical and support personnel who will support BDRCS in the response after GRTs demobilize. Pending completion of the recruitment process, short-term delegates are being sought, among them the Surge Psychosocial Support (PSS) Delegate.

Under oversight of the Operations Manager, the Surge PSS Delegate will support the planning, coordination and implementation of PSS activities of the Bangladesh Population Movement Operation (PMO). The Surge PSS Delegate will work closely with BDRCS and IFRC PSS counterparts, Emergency Health Delegate, Red Cross Emergency Clinics, Red Cross Emergency Hospital, Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI) Delegate, Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) Delegate, ICRC Restoring Family Links (RFL) personnel, and respective RDRT members, BDRCS management and technical staff, with the aim of addressing psychological needs of affected persons as well as personnel involved in the PMO.

Job Resposibilities

· Support community-based protection assessments to identify specific mental health and psychosocial concerns, risks, needs of girls, boys, women and men and at-risk groups.

· Support assessments, response and mainstreaming of MHPSS knowledge, attitudes and practice across sectors.

· Capacity of BDRCS and IFRC Psychosocial Support (PSS) national staff counterparts in PSS including Training of Trainers (ToT) in Psychological First Aid (PFA) and/or community-based PSS.

· Capacity building of IFRC delegates in MHPSS including health and other sectors.

· Support training and build capacity of BDRCS staff and volunteers in relevant MHPSS interventions.

· Ensure that MHPSS and protection referral pathways are available, understood and socialized within the PMO.

· Support the provision of MHPSS for staff and volunteers including orientation on self-care and referral as needed to IFRC stress counsellors.

· Support BDRCS participation in relevant Movement and inter-agency coordination forums and working groups.

· Work with PGI to ensure awareness of staff and volunteers in the Code of Conduct and PSEA obligations of all humanitarian workers.

· Advise and assist, as appropriate, Partner National Societies (PNS) working with interventions related to PSS.

· Work closely with BDRCS and IFRC PSS counterparts to realise the PMO PoA and PSS Implementation Plan

· Report on PSS, ensuring the inclusion of sex, age and disability disaggregated data (SADD).

· Ensure proper documentation of MHPSS activities. Ensure an effective handover to successor for continuity and mitigating loss of institutional memory.

Position Requirements

· Relevant university degree or equivalent qualifying experience

· Minimum of 5 years' experience in psychosocial support programming (PSP)

· Experience of working for Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in an international setting

· Prior work in complex emergencies or similar contexts

· Demonstrated technical expertise in mental health and/or psychosocial support

· Skills in networking with partner organizations or agencies

· Experience in identifying and utilising referral pathways

· Experience in supporting, coaching and training of National Society personnel

· Experience in development of training PSS materials and manuals

For more detail on position requirements and to apply, please visit the IFRC vacancies portal:
http://www.ifrc.org/en/who-we-are/working-with-us/current-vacancies/job-description/?id=5011

Please note this position closes on Friday 5 January 2018.