Job Description

Title: Psychosocial Support Officer (PSS)

Company Name: Handicap International (humanity Inclusion) in Bangladesh

Vacancy: 01

Job Location: Kurigram

Employment Status: Full-time, Contractual

Educational Requirements:
∎ University degree in Psychology, Psycho-social Counselling & Counseling Psychology, or related to Mental Health and Psychosocial Field with 2 years' relevant experience, particularly working with people with disabilities.

Experience Requirements:
∎ At least 2 year(s)

Job Context:
∎ Handicap International (Humanity & Inclusion) is inviting applications from development professionals, willing to serve as a Psychosocial Support Officer (PSS), to its Disability inclusive emergency support to COVID-19 (reaching the most vulnerable) project. This project will target extremely poor and poor households of people with disabilities in Kurigram (Sadar and Ulipur), Gaibandha, Rangpur, and Chittagong (Sitakunda and Mirershorai) where HI will implement directly with the support of DPOs. The PSS Officer will be responsible for providing immediate PSS support to identified persons, making appropriate and timely referrals, and advocating for persons with physical, cognitive, and psychological impairments to access services. The Officer will assist with awareness-raising to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase understanding of multidimensional risks including COVID 19 and natural disasters. PSS Officers will also support the capacity building of community volunteers and DPO members with support from the MHPSS Technical Adviser.
∎
∎ "Position contingent upon funding"
∎ Line Manager: UK Aid Direct Project Manager
∎ Type of Contract: Fixed-term
∎ Duration of the Contract: From as early to - 28/02/2021 (6 months)
∎ Job Location: Kurigram, Bangladesh

Job Responsibilities:
∎ 1. Technical support
∎ Psychosocial support to beneficiaries as part of emergency response to COVID19
∎ Coordinate identification of most vulnerable people including older, women, people with disabilities with psychosocial support needs in Kurigram and Sitakunda
∎ Assess the psycho-social needs of identified beneficiaries including older, women and people with disabilities
∎ Plan and conduct individual, family and group counselling sessions, particularly related to the motivation of beneficiaries including older, women and people with disabilities for entry or continuation in employment, with regular follow up, based on a prioritization system
∎ Identify psycho-social referral linkages and refer most vulnerable people including older, women and people with disabilities to basic and specialized health and other social services, based on their needs and participate in the roll-out and use of a referral card system
∎ Ensure compliance with HI technical quality standards, in close coordination with the Technical Unit
∎ Support Technical Unit in increasing the capacity of community volunteers through regular workshops and training and consistent on the job training
∎ Contribution to annual appraisals of Community Livelihood Workers
∎ Provide basic training/coaching on psychosocial support for other HI staff in Kurigram, Sitakunda and elsewhere in Bangladesh
∎ 2.Coordination and Networking
∎ Build linkages with the local community, Disabled Peoples' Organizations and other local stakeholders on psycho-social issues
∎ Raise awareness at the community level on psycho-social issues and advocate towards local government and other stakeholders, in collaboration with Disabled People's Organizations, for the inclusion of beneficiaries including people with disabilities within different physical and mental health and other socio-economic development programmes in the working area
∎ Identify and network with other partners active in psychosocial issues in the region and maintain good relations with other relevant stakeholders
∎ Participate on behalf of HI in workshops, seminars, and meetings related to psychosocial support activities under the supervision of the project manager.
∎ 3.Reporting & Representation
∎ Contribute to the monitoring, data collection and documentation processes of the project related to COVID19 response
∎ Contribute to indicator and graduation/ quality of life index-tracking related to the progress of beneficiaries towards graduation/ quality of life
∎ Maintain and update client files related to psycho-social assessments, plans and progress updates
∎ Contribute to the collection of case studies to monitor the progress of targeted people with disabilities
∎ Support the production of IEC materials (leaflets, booklets and other information) related to psychosocial support

Additional Requirements:
∎ Age at least 21 years
∎ KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
∎ Minimum 2 years of relevant experience, particularly working with people with disabilities
∎ Experience of emergency response support, poverty graduation processes, particularly related to vulnerable groups, including older, women and people with disabilities
∎ Experience facilitating training and developing training materials and on-the-job capacity building of staff and community workers
∎ Proven analytical and planning skills
∎ Good oral and written communication skills in Bengali and English
∎ Computing skills (MS office package- both in English and Bangla)
∎ Experience and comprehensive understanding of disability
∎ Experience of working in remote community settings
∎ Experience in contributing to data collection and indicator tracking within development projects or programs
∎ Experience of working with people in extreme poverty
∎ Experience working with community-based volunteers
∎ Strong teamwork approach
∎ Excellent interpersonal skills
∎ Good communication skills in English, Bangla
∎ Basic understanding of gender and persons with special needs
∎ Availability to travel to remote areas and spend time at the field level
∎ Ability to work under pressure and in a multicultural, multi-gender team environment
∎ Computer knowledge (MS office package- both in English and Bangla)
∎ Good networking skills
∎ Proven analytical and planning skills
∎ Creativity and flexibility

Salary: Tk. 52731 - 59031 (Monthly)

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ Mobile bill, Tour allowance, Provident fund, Weekly 2 holidays, Insurance, Gratuity, Medical allowance
∎ Salary Review: Yearly
∎ Festival Bonus: 2

Application Deadline: 12 Sep 2020

Company Information:
∎ 13 Aug 2020
∎ Handicap International (humanity & Inclusion) in Bangladesh
∎ Address : House # 3/A, Road # 36, Gulshan , Dhaka-1212
∎ Business : Business: Handicap International (HI) is an international aid organization specialized in the field of disability. Non-governmental, non-religious, non-political and non-profit making, it works alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, whatever the context, offering them assistance and supporting them in their efforts to become self-reliant. Since its creation, the organisation has set up programmes in approximately 60 countries and intervened in many emergency situations. It operates as a federation made up of a network of eight associations (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA) which provide human and financial resources, manage projects and raise awareness of Handicap International`s actions and campaigns.

HI has been working in Bangladesh since 1997, with a focus on creating sustainable changes in terms of ensuring rights and inclusion of persons with disabilities in society. HI promotes an inclusive approach by focusing on access to services for all whenever possible rather than developing specific actions for persons with disabilities. HI works not only with persons with disabilities but also with their families, their communities, and the society. The main office is based in Dhaka, and presently there are 3 site offices in Sitakundo, Kurigram and in Cox’sbazar.

Presently HI Bangladesh is implementing projects on integrating disability in community based disaster risk reduction and response; economic empowerment of extreme poor persons with disabilities; mainstreaming disability in livelihood interventions; support to refugees and surrounding communities;, capacity building of professional associations; and support to Disabled People`s Organizations; among others.”

Category: NGO/Development