Mental Health Curriculum Development Consultant At Physicians for Human Rights

Location: This position is usually located in our Nairobi, Kenya office, but is remote while offices remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classification: This is a temporary consultancy through October 2021, with the possibility of extension.

Work Authorization: Applicants must be authorized to work in Kenya.

Organization Description

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a preeminent international advocacy and research organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. For more than 30 years, PHR has mobilized a community of clinicians and human rights professionals to advance human rights, public health, and social justice across the globe. In this time, it has become a trailblazer in its field, leading landmark investigations into crimes against humanity, and earning a 1997 Nobel Prize for its investigation of the health impact of land mines in Cambodia. PHR has also exposed the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Iraq, exhumed mass graves in Bosnia and Rwanda for international tribunals and provided evidence for criminal investigations into torture and extrajudicial executions.

Today, PHR is on the front lines of the most pressing human rights crises of our time, from the coup in Myanmar, to U.S. police violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The last year has only highlighted the critical importance of using science-based approaches to safeguard human rights, most particularly those of women and children, immigrants, refugees, detainees, and other populations at risk.

Recent highlights of PHR’s work include:

Advocating for an Evidence-based Response to the Pandemic: Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, PHR has sounded the alarm over the grave risks posed by COVID-19 to populations in areas where health systems are underdeveloped, decimated by armed conflict, or virtually nonexistent. PHR is elevating the voices of local health providers about the extreme dangers of COVID-19 to their communities and supporting partners around the world in advocating for a concerted, collaborative, science- and rights- based worldwide response.

Documenting Police Violence: Following President Trump’s July 26, 2020 order to deploy federal agents to protest sites around the country, PHR sent an expert team to Portland, Oregon to investigate reports of the extreme force police and federal agents were using against protestors and first responders.

Highlighting Violence Against the Rohingya: PHR has produced numerous reports documenting serious human rights violations against the Rohingya people of Myanmar. Its latest research sheds new light on the patterns of extreme injuries, specifically related to sexual violence, that survivors suffered through rape, gang rape, mutilation, forced witnessing of sexual assault, and other forms of sexual violence.

PHR’s vital work is sustained by a dynamic and deeply committed team of approximately 45 based in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also supported by a prominent Board and an annual operating budget of nearly $8-9M.

Role Description

In 2011, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) launched its Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones to confront impunity for widespread sexual violence – used as both a weapon of war and a common crime. Rare cases that made it to court often failed because of insufficient evidence to support survivors’ allegations. In that context, PHR saw medical professionals as powerful change agents and created an initiative to enhance collaboration between medical and legal professionals to collect, document, and analyze forensic evidence to hold perpetrators accountable, and to improve medical care and access to justice for survivors. PHR has been working with doctors, nurses, trauma counsellors, police officers, lawyers, and judges in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to develop comprehensive, standardized methods for collecting forensic evidence of sexual violence to increase the likelihood of effective and successful investigations and prosecutions of these crimes.

PHR is currently working on a project to strengthen Mental Health Care and Forensic Psychological Evidence Collection in Kenya. The project aims at improving sexual violence survivors’ access to mental health care, building local capacity to document forensic psychological evidence to support legal cases and reform policies to ensure survivors nationwide can access critical mental health care and forensic documentation. The project was informed by previous engagement with stakeholders, from health, law enforcement, judicial, academic, development and civil society sectors, who cited a lack of understanding of existing health sector practices and capacity to conduct mental health assessments to support sexual violence cases as well as the role that psychological evidence plays in sexual violence prosecutions.

The ultimate beneficiaries of this project are sexual violence survivors in Kenya. However, the direct beneficiaries of PHR’s proposed activities are multisectoral professionals – doctors, clinical officers, nurses, psychologists, social workers, police officers, prosecutors, judges and other allied stakeholders – who will be trained and mentored to build capacity to respond effectively to sexual violence crimes and provide critical mental health support to survivors.

Reports to: Program Officer, Kenya

Scope of Work:

For executing all responsibilities under this Scope of Work section, Consultant will provide updates and reports to and remain in regular communication with the SVCZ Program Officer. Specifically, the Consultant will:

Develop and design a 3-day mental health training curriculum for frontline medical professionals on the provision of psychological first aid to survivors of sexual violence, understanding the psychological impacts of sexual violence on survivors of sexual violence and the forensic documentation of psychological evidence of sexual violence. The consultant will also be expected to review PHR’s current module on Vicarious trauma and Resilience and incorporate this into the larger curriculum.

Responsibilities:

· Conduct onboarding and research through meetings/call(s) with PHR’s Sexual Violence team in Kenya and globally to learn about the sexual violence Program, the mental health project as well as read Comic Relief project documents, national guidance on service provision for survivors of sexual violence and existing PHR training modules. To include relevant meetings with partners where additional information is required.

· Collaborate with other PHR consultants and experts focusing on capacity development and mental health to enhance the curriculum content.

· Draft and design the mental health curriculum, including a preliminary draft, incorporating revisions proposed by the team, and a produce final draft following PHR’s curriculum format.

· Edit and finalize the draft curriculum based on feedback from the PHR and PHR-K teams

· Develop and guide on the introduction of institutional policies, procedures and protocols at health facilities in Nakuru and Nairobi Counties to improve the provision of mental health care to survivors of sexual violence.

· Provide guidance on mentorship activities for students participating in PHR’s mental health capacity development initiatives such as trainings and other pre-service interventions during their internship at the health facilities.

· Upon 15 days of completion of contract, the Consultant will provide a detailed written summary of observations, assessments, and recommendations to the Program Officer.

Estimated Days and Deadline Date

1. Conduct a situational analysis on the status of mental healthcare provision for SGBV survivors at select facilities in Nakuru, Naivasha, Molo, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nairobi and the nature of training provided in preparation for the development of the curriculum and protocols. Prepare a brief report. 7 Days. Deadline: August 20, 2021
2. First draft of Mental Health Curriculum. 12 Days. Deadline: September 10, 2021
3. Incorporate feedback from PHR on curriculum. 5 Days. Deadline: September 13– 24, 2021
4. Final draft of curriculum, including institutional policies and protocols. 5 Days. Deadline: October 8, 2021
5. Conduct a curriculum validation workshop with select multisectoral stakeholders from Nakuru, Nairobi, Uasin Gishu and Kisumu counties. 5 Days. Deadline: October 22, 2021

Qualifications and Requirements:

· A minimum of a post-graduate degree in Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, or any other disciplines related to mental health.

· Demonstrated understanding of human rights and sexual and gender-based violence.

· Experience with teaching, curriculum development and knowledge of adult learning principles will be preferred.

· Knowledge of instructional design methodologies and the evaluation of trainings.

· Ability to prepare comprehensive work plans, execute tasks efficiently, organize work effectively and must have attention to detail.

· Strong communication skills including cross-cultural communication, clear and precise writing.

· Ability to research, analyze and present complex information for consideration.

Deadline for receiving applications: August 13th, 2021

When applying, consultants should indicate their proposed consultancy fees, their technical approach to the consultancy/their understanding of the expected deliverables. Indicate similar work carried out previously.

More information about Physicians for Human Rights can be found at www.phr.org.