Local Consultant – Strengthening Ligne Verte 1809 in Tunisia At Child Helpline International

We are looking for an experienced consultant to support our latest project which aims to strengthen Ligne Verte 1809 child helpline. *The consultant must be based in Tunisia*

Introduction

Child Helpline International is a collective impact organisation that brings together 168 child helplines from 141 countries and territories (May 2022) around the world. The organisation coordinates information, viewpoints, knowledge and data from its members, and uses this to help and support child protection systems globally, regionally and nationally. Child Helpline International also has a long history of supporting the start-up and upscale of child helplines around the world. This process is always driven by a combination of the needs identified in the local context, our long-term experience and the stakeholders who are present and involved in the process.

Child helplines identify the most important issues in children’s lives and respond immediately through psychosocial support, referrals and interventions. The documented information gathered by the child helplines is used to support governments and child protection agencies in the improvement of their national child protection systems, policy and legislation reforms and in the development of better monitoring tools.

In April 2020, in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the COVID19 crisis on Tunisian children, governmental, civil society and private sector partners, together with UNICEF, set up a national child helpline, the Ligne Verte 1809. This toll-free child helpline provides mental health and psychosocial support to children, parents and families in Tunisia on a range of issues from child abuse, domestic violence to general psychological wellbeing and dealing with the impact of COVID19. Set up in partnership with UNICEF, the Tunisian Society for Research, Family and Couple Therapy and companies TRICOM and VOCALCOM, the service is currently provided by psychologists appointed by the Ministry, who work from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

As the service is in high demand, UNICEF and the Ministère de la Famille, de la Femme, de l’Enfance et des Séniors (MFFS) wish to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the child helpline and increase the awareness of its services. In order to do this, a full evaluation of existing operations,needs assessment and mapping of referral network needs to take place in order to identify gaps in capacity and areas for development. With this in mind, Child Helpline International will work alongside UNICEF Tunisia, Ministère de la Famille, de la Femme, de ’Enfance et des Séniors (MFFS) on an upcoming project to strengthen the Ligne Verte 1809 child helpline in Tunisia, through three key stages, an assessment phase, a development phase and a follow-up phase.

About the role

This project is an Institutional Contract to support UNICEF Tunisia and MFFS and you will be the focal person in Tunisia supporting the Project Coordinator with project implementation. The goal of the consultancy is to support with the assessment and development phases.

This position requires work remotely, except on three occasions when the team will be visiting Tunisia.

The overall objective of this project is to provide technical support to UNICEF Tunisia and MFFS for the strengthening of the Ligne Verte 1809 and specifically it will:

1. Assess and evaluate the existing operations of Ligne Verte 1809 in Tunisia in order to identify impact, gaps in capacity and current level of sustainability
2. Based on the evaluation and assessment, identify key recommendations for areas of development and present recommendations to key stakeholders.
3. Map existing Mental Health and Psychosocial Services (MHPSS) and Child Protection services in each governorate for strengthening of referral and intervention pathways
4. Build capacity of the Ligne Verte 1809 service through trainings and development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for counselling and case management
5. Connect Ligne Verte 1809 with the Child Helpline International network to enable knowledge exchange, caching and access to additional learning and development opportunities.

Key responsibilities of the consultant

• Co-coordinate (alongside the Project Coordinator) in the preparation, and execution of the evaluation and assessment of the Ligne Verte 1809
• Support in the organisation and facilitation of focus group discussions, with children and youth, key child protection stakeholders, telecom operators and community-based leaders
• Support in the mapping of Mental Health and Psychosocial Services (MHPSS) and Child Protection services in each governorate for strengthening of referral and intervention pathways
• Networking and liaising with partners, stakeholders and the existing helpline services in Tunisia, when necessary
• Develop a report with results and recommendations and present the report through a stakeholders meeting
• Support the Project Coordinator in developing/adapting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Ligne Verte 1809 in Tunisia
• Support with the translation of questionnaires and other materials in Arabic if needed
• Provide technical guidance, local and contextual expertise in child rights and child protection

Expertise and requirements

• A degree in Social Sciences, Social Work, Psychology, International Development or related field
• Experience in child protection, child safeguarding and/or mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS)
• Knowledge and experience in conducting studies, needs assessments and/or evaluating MHPSS services
• Experience in programmatic development and implementation
• Ability to compile and analyse data and produce reports
• Proven networking skills
• A broad knowledge of country dynamics in Tunisia
• Fluency in English and French is required. Arabic skills will also be considered an asset
• Excellent analytical, planning and organisational skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills
• Advanced ICT skills
• Ability to work with minimum supervision at times
• Ability to travel occasionally
• Focused, organised and flexible attitude to work with hands on mentality
• Currently based in Tunisia

Essential information

The Consultant will report to the Project Coordinator. Child Helpline International is based in Amsterdam. But the position will be based remotely in Tunisia. Travel within Tunisia will be required on at least 3 occasions.

The contract will be for 3 days per week initially for a period of 5 months, from November 2022 to March 2023 (maximum of 70 days). The position will be on a consultancy basis and the daily salary will be $140 dependent on experience and inclusive of applicable taxes.