Senior Consultant to develop a comprehensive strategic framework for provision of burnout support, self-care and clinical supervision to Child Protection social workforce, Kigali- Rwanda, 3 months ( Rwandan Nationals Only) at United Nations Children’s Fund: (Deadline 24 October 2022)

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Protection

To learn more about UNICEF work in Rwanda, please visit the country website https://unicef.sharepoint.com/sites/RWA/

How can you make a difference?

Scope of Work

Context:

The Government of Rwanda is strengthening the child protection system to prevent and respond to all child protection violations. The building blocks of the system have solidified over the last 10 years. From the establishment of the National Commission for Children which has now evolved to become the National Child Development Agency (NCD) Agency, the adoption of the Integrated child rights policy and a range of child protective laws and other child friendly policies, the Government has created an environment that is enabling enough to ensure the safety and care of the child in Rwanda.

At the core of the system is an evolving child protection workforce currently made up of 33 professional social workers and psychologists (Child Protection and Welfare Officers) spread across the country’s 30 districts. Recruitment is underway to add 32 more social workers and psychologists who will complement the current workforce. Their role has evolved from a primary focus on de-institutionalization of children within a national childcare reform programme to a more comprehensive childcare and protection role as part of a growing child protection system. Daily, these professionals manage protection cases affecting boys, girls and families, supervise the work of a community workforce known as Inshuti Z’Umuryango (IZU), link children in need with other social, law enforcement, education and justice service providers and conduct required follow ups for the huge caseloads under their management. The development of a national child protection case management system is at final stage to further streamline and standardize child protection service provision within a continuum of prevention and response services.

At the community level, the CPWO are assisted by a network of 29, 674 community-based volunteer cadres

known as the Friends of the Family/Inshuti Z’Umryango (IZU), who play a supportive role in prevention, identification and response to child protection cases falling within the scope of their abilities. The IZU play a key role in referral of cases beyond their remit, especially those requiring statutory services to the CPWO and other service providers depending on the nature of the case. The IZU identify and provide basic child protection service to an average of over 170,000 cases of violence, neglect, abuse, abandonment, social protection and other needs per month. Most of these cases are referred to child protection professional workforce for management. The lack of timely prevention of such protection risks gives rise to certain categories of children in need of child protection and MHPSS response, like children victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, teen pregnancies and children born of teen mothers, children in contact with the law, children on the street, in detention facilities, and children in families with conflicts and in divorce, which negatively affect their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Also, the COVID-19 experience has shown, in times of pandemics, further strain is put on families and both formal and informal protection mechanisms, putting more children at significant risk of violence, abuse and other protection concerns. This results in increased caseloads for the CPWOs who have to deal with cases that are continuously being made complex by the health crisis induced uncertainties. Over and above, the CPWOs are also equally affected in their personal lives by the same issues that affect the rest of the community. The strain on the personal lives of the CPWOs is significant in the absence of a mechanism to help them deal with stress and burnout.

The situation is made worse by the fact that there is currently no structured support supervision mechanism in place for the professional frontline child protection workforce, leaving them to deal with extremely difficult cases on their own. Where clinical or support supervision is available, it is mostly ad-hoc and provided by a small team at national level, who themselves handle heavy workloads made up mostly of upstream work. While the CPWO are placed under district authority for day-to-day administrative supervision, there are no trained professionals in child protection to provide technical support that could otherwise help to alleviate the emotional burden of handling difficult cases.

Rationale:

Given the clear risks of burnout and emotional strain for the CPWO, NCD Agency and UNICEF have partnered to establish a support and supervisory program to accompany child protection workforce as they manage complex cases of care, abuse, abandonment, neglect and violence and to provide support to IZU.

It is against this background that UNICEF and NCD Agency are seeking technical assistance to elaborate a strategy that will help to draw a framework for provision of MHPSS to different beneficiaries. This framework will provide a strategic direction and guidance for delivery of promotive, preventive, and responsive services to child protection professionals and volunteers.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

To develop a comprehensive strategic framework for provision of burnout support, self-care and clinical supervision to Child Protection social workforce (professionals and volunteers)

Assignment:

1. Undertake literature review to understand the child protection system in Rwanda as well as its workforce and existing support/supervisory system and to inform strategic actions needed to promote their mental wellbeing, self-care, prevention of burnout and clinical supervision,
2. Conduct a mapping of the current stakeholders in the MHPSS in Rwanda, focusing on those that provide burnout/selfcare support to workforce, both in Rwanda and internationally.

Develop a comprehensive and costed strategy for addressing workforce burnout, promoting self-care and provision of clinical supervision to child protection workforce, both professional and paraprofessional workforce.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

1. Produce a brief inception report (not more than 5 pages) to share the methodology, list of KII, laws and documents to be reviewed, and the timelines.
2. Conduct desk review of relevant documents, structured interviews, and mapping of workforce focused burnout/selfcare service providers. Produce first draft of staff burnout, selfcare and clinical supervision strategy
3. Facilitate half-one day workshop to gather inputs/feedback from NCDA and UNICEF technical teams
4. Incorporate inputs and finalize the strategy for submission and sign off by NCDA and UNICEF

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Inception report submission. To be completed by 07 November 2022 ( 10% of contract value)
• 1^st draft report finalized. To be completed by 28 November 2022 ( 10% of contract value)
• 1st draft of strategy submitted, and feedback workshop facilitated. to be completed by 13 December 2022 ( 50% of contract value)
• 2^nd draft report finalized
• Final burnout, self-care and clinical supervision framework submitted. To be completed by 13 January 2023 (30% of contract value)

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree or equivalent experience in clinical psychology, industrial psychology, mental health or clinical social work
• A technical background with at least 8 years of professional experience in stress management, clinical/technical supervision for professional working with stressful and complex situations, self-care and mental well-being for practitioners.
• Specific experience in designing and delivering mental health support program to health or child protection workforce is an asset
• Familiarity with mental health issues connected to child protection case management.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and networking skills; and Flexibility and ability to operate in different cultural settings and with a variety of stakeholders; culturally and gender sensitive.
• Technical proposal

  Kindly submit a two-page technical proposal outlining the proposed methodology for consideration along with the application letter

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).

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