Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential.

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Purpose of the consultancy:
As a consequence of the ongoing crisis in Syria, millions of people inside the country are internally displaced, reside as refugees in the neighbouring countries or have crossed borders into European countries. The recent UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria report on Children’s Rights over the course of the Syrian War highlights a horrific reality that children in Syria have been exposed to over the years.

[1] Based on Save the Children’s research, the prolonged exposure to war, stress and uncertainty of Syrian children means that many are in a state of ‘toxic stress’, which has an immediate and hugely detrimental effect on child development.
[2] While the above-mentioned adversities negatively impact the Syrian child population as a whole, anecdotal research implies that displaced and returnee children may be particularly exposed, while at the same time less often able to access relevant support services.
[3] In particular, based on Save the Children’s operational knowledge, displaced Syrian children and adolescents often experience significant anxiety and stress when thinking about return and many returnee children display severe symptoms of psychosocial distress and trauma. In addition, the uncertainty related to future choices and changes in social environment itself can have a profound impact on the psychosocial development of children and adolescents. According to Save the Children’s Durable Solutions for Children toolkit,
[4] an IDP or refugee child has only been able to achieve a durable solution to their displacement once they are able to enjoy physical, material, legal and psychosocial safety without being disproportionately impacted by their displacement. Psychosocial safety is understood to include an environment that supports a child’s positive psychosocial development and addresses potential needs for specialised care, as well as a sense of belonging, whereby a child feels part of his/her community and broader environment in which durable solutions are pursued. The emphasis on addressing the specific displacement-related psychosocial needs in general, and the specific challenges that displaced children, adolescents and youth in particular experience, as a core pillar of durable solutions differs from most other related frameworks.

SCI aims to draw attention to issues relating to psychosocial safety in large-scale protracted displacement contexts such as Syria, and highlight the linkage that these challenges may have to the legal, material and physical challenges that displaced persons often face when trying to pursue durable solutions. Ensuring psychosocial safety can also be seen to be intrinsically linked to root causes of displacement: addressing past grievances and related mental health and psychosocial support needs is also crucial for meaningful reconciliation and eventually building sustainable peace. In a context such as Syria, where children and adolescents represent a significant proportion of the displaced population, the link between their psychosocial safety and durable solutions needs to be better understood in order to provide adequate support.

Save the Children (SCI) is announcing the recruitment of an individual (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultant”) to develop a policy brief on ways of supporting psychosocial safety of displaced Syrian children and adolescents based on analysis of available primary and secondary data and in consultation with the SCI team. The overall objective of the policy brief is to operationally define the concept of psychosocial safety in order to guide SCI’s durable solutions advocacy and programming inside Syria and in neighbouring countries hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, as well as to contribute to interagency durable solutions planning and programming.

Scope of the consultancy

Tasks:
The Consultant will be responsible for the drafting of the policy brief in coordination with SCI Syria Response Office Advocacy, Media and Communications and Programme Development and Quality teams.

The specific tasks of the Consultant include:
* Conducting a rigorous analysis of relevant existing secondary data and previously un-analysed primary data and write a short overview of key findings and trends;
* Conducting interviews with key SCI staff and potentially external experts on the topic of mental health and psychosocial support in displacement contexts and durable solutions;
* Based on the above, facilitating a session with the SCI team on key recommendations for the policy brief;
* Drafting a policy brief on the on the interlinkage of psychosocial safety and durable solutions with concrete policy recommendations, incorporating comments from the SCI team and delivering a final version.

Duration:
The overall scope of the consultancy is 20 working days during the period of 23 February – 31 March 2020. An inception meeting between the Consultant and the SCI focal points will be organised in the beginning of the consultancy to review and finalise the work plan and deadlines.

Deliverables:

The Consultant is expected to submit the following deliverables to SCI:
* Overview of key findings from primary and secondary data analysis (due by 7 March 2020);
* Draft outline of the policy brief for comments and input from SCI (due by 10 March 2020);
* Full first draft of the policy brief (due by 18 March 2020);
* Final version of the policy brief (de by 31 March 2020).

Other:
The Consultant will be required to sign SCI’s Child Safeguarding Policy.

All the data provided for the Consultant’s review and analysis will remain property of SCI. All data (hard and soft copy alike) must be safely stored and access limited to Consultant alone.

The Consultant must treat all findings in a confidential manner and require advance written approval from SCI for sharing any information with third parties, in whichever form.

Qualifications

Key qualifications of the Consultant should be:
* Master’s degree in relevant topic, such as Psychology, Global Mental Health. Psychiatry, Forced Migration and Displacement, or other relevant field
* At least 7 years of work experience in international humanitarian and/or development contexts
* Solid knowledge of IASC MHPSS guidelines, UNICEF MHPSS Operational Guidelines, human rights and protection in humanitarian contexts
* Solid knowledge of key legal and policy guidance relating to displacement and durable solutions, including the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions for IDPs
* Excellent long standing experience in conducting research, interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data and independently conducting qualitative analysis
* Proven experience of developing high quality policy briefs and guidance, advocacy reports or other relevant documents
* Outstanding technical writing skills in English, including proven experience of technical narrative report writing with descriptive analysis and creative presentation of the research findings
* Working knowledge of Arabic is highly desirable
* Working experience in the Middle East Region is an asset

Particular requirement: No person performing any task for or on behalf of Save the Children must in any way be involved or associated with the abuse or exploitation of children as described in the Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy.

Selection criteria

All bidders will be required to submit each of the following documents that will be weighted on a scale of 100 points:

Evaluation Criteria

Weight %

1. Technical Offer
   70%
   A)Qualifications, CV, past experiences especially with children, network
   45%
   B) One previous similar piece of work that includes quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis
   25%
   C)A proof legal entity status (required)
   n/a
2. Financial Offer
   30%
   A) A financial proposal according to guidance provided in the Terms of Reference
   30%

   Total
   100%

We are interested in hearing from you if you have experience of working in a similar role in an emergency or you can demonstrate experience of working in similarly complex countries or environments (please outline this in your cover letter).

We offer candidates a competitive salary package which includes both medical insurance, accommodation and other benefits for the duration of their contract.

To apply, please send a covering letter along with up-to-date CV, in English to the link provided. Please note: due to the critical nature of this recruitment, applications will be reviewed as they are received and successful candidates contacted on an on-going basis.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.