Consultancy – Integration of perinatal mental health in maternal health care for adolescent girls and women in EAP region, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand

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 fulfilling 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, a better future

UNICEF works to ensure the rights of all children in the East Asia and Pacific Region.  This means the rights of every child living in this country, irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion or ethnicity, to:

• survival – to basic healthcare, peace and security;
• development – to a good education, a loving home and adequate nutrition;
• protection – from abuse, neglect, trafficking, child labour and other forms of exploitation; and
• participation – to express opinions, be listened to and take part in making any decisions that affect them

How can you make a difference?

Based on the WHO Guidance, this consultancy will support the mapping of tools to support integration of MHPSS in PHC to support perinatal mental health of pregnant women and adolescents, and produce a regional guideline on integration of Perinatal Mental Health (PMH) and toolkit for country office use to address the needs of pregnant adolescents and women.

Work assignment:

Under the supervision of the UNICEF health specialist in close collaboration with the MHPSS specialist, the consultant will carry out the following activities:

• To carry out a scoping/ desk review on contextually relevant practices and materials which exist to support integration of MHPSS into PHC for pregnant women and adolescents particularly from marginalized populations.
• To develop brief guidance for integration of mental health care into community based maternal health including
  • Guidance on Policy and strategy revision to ensure enabling environment for the CHW to identify and provide quality support and referrals for PMH care
  • Guidance to strengthen referral systems and link facility-based health providers with CHWs providing CPMD prevention and care
  • Assessment tool to identify gaps in mental health provision for pregnant women and adolescent girls at community level
  • Adapt targets according to facility performance and outcomes
  • Guidance on monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting within existing system
  • Guidance on adjusting the education, training, support, and compensation to CHWs as they include PMH services in their scope (institutionalization of CHWs) and fully integrate them into the health system
• To produce, test and finalize a standard toolkit on mental health  for  community health workers and women that can be contextualised and translated for country use. This toolkit can  adapt and should align with the  Helping Adolescents Thrive guided delivery approach to support the mental health promotion and prevention of mental and substance use disorders in pregnant adolescents.
  • Community tool including for home visits
  • Training guidelines for community based frontline workers
  • Health promotion messaging for women and adolescents to be incorporated in existing products e.g. MCH handbook
• In selected 2 countries (TBC), potentially Indonesia, PNG, Viet Nam and Cambodia design and plan for the proof of concept and testing of selected tools:
  • Adapt above guidance and tools and demonstrate in select subnational administrative areas (provinces/ governorate/ districts)
  • Train, support, and supervise community health workers to screen, support, and refer women with CPMDs
  • Strengthen the monitoring, reporting and referral mechanisms

Expected deliverable and Delivery schedule:

1. Assignment: remote/ home-based modality 
Expected deliverable 1: Inception report (Max 10 pages)
Delivery schedule: 5 days 

2. Assignment: remote/ home-based modality
Expected deliverable 2: Desk review of existing practices and materials to support integration of MHPSS into PHC to support perinatal MH at community level (Max 50 pages)
Delivery schedule:  10 days 

3. Assignment: remote/ home-based modality
Expected deliverable 3: Development of Guidance
Delivery schedule:  15 days
 
4. Assignment: remote/ home based modality
Expected deliverable 4: Development of Toolkit
Delivery schedule: 20 days 

5. Assignment: remote/ home-based modality/in the field
Expected deliverable 5: Field testing of guidance and toolkit
Country Proof of Concept design and Presentation to UNICEF EAPRO health, MHPSS, CP colleagues (TBD)
Delivery schedule: 15 days

Duration of Contract:  February 2024 – February 2025 

Interested candidates are requested to submit CV, full contact information of minimum 3 references, availability, and proposed daily professional fee in USD by 26 February 2024.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

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. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.