National Consultancy to Develop a Mental Health Handbook Guide for Pregnant Adolescent Girls, Nairobi, Kenya (Home Based) Consultancy

UNICEF seeks a consultant to support MoH to develop and test a handbook for mental health integration for pregnant adolescent girls into the MoH Continuum of care package for ANC, MCH and PNC. The mental health guide will be contextualized and responsive to the developmental needs of this population. It will outline practice strategies, services indicators, and provide tools to guide provision of mental health support to pregnant adolescent girls by health service providers working the antenatal care clinics, labor and delivery wards and Postnatal care clinics in primary and tertiary level health facilities.

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For every child, health

Health | UNICEF

Background

Adolescent pregnancies present an emerging public health burden in LMIC with pregnant and parenting adolescents facing adversities such as social stigma, lack of emotional support, poor healthcare access, and stresses around new life adjustments. The teenage pregnancy rate in Kenya is 15% according to the KDHS 2022 report.

Early pregnancy increases the risk of negative mental health issues, such as depression, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  Additionally, adolescent pregnancy and motherhood are linked to stigma, discrimination, gender inequities, and the derailment of educational aspirations. Adolescents who are pregnant or recently gave birth are more prone to experiencing depression than their non-pregnant peers. The prevalence of depression in pregnant adolescents varies with a higher prevalence reported in low- and middle-income countries as compared to high-income countries. The rate of depression among pregnant adolescents may be higher because many are not screened for symptoms of depression or are unaware of perinatal depression.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF seeks a consultant to support MoH in developing and testing a handbook for mental health integration for pregnant adolescent girls into the MoH Continuum of care packages for ANC, MCH, and PNC. The mental health guide will be contextualized and responsive to the developmental needs of this population. It will outline practice strategies, and services indicators, and provide tools to guide the provision of mental health support to pregnant adolescent girls by health service providers working the antenatal care clinics, labor and delivery wards, and Postnatal care clinics in primary and tertiary level health facilities.

Objectives 

• Development of a Handbook for Mental health integration into ANC, PNC, and MCH for pregnant adolescent girls
• Conduct field testing of the Mental health handbook in 4 counties – Nairobi, Kisumu, West Pokot, and Kilifi at the  county referral hospital and one sub-county hospital
• Integration of Mental health support for pregnant adolescent girls’ handbook guide into the National Continuum of care package from ANC through to PNC and MCH

Tasks 

• Prepare and submit an inception report and discuss the expected deliverables to the MoH. The report should include timelines, methodology, key definitions, a preliminary list of key resources and source materials, stakeholder mapping and consultation plan, review draft structure.
• Review and analyze research, key documents, and reports to include lessons learned and past achievements, best practices, strengths, and weaknesses of the mental health programs implemented (targeting adolescents and pregnant adolescents) with the development of Draft Zero of the handbook guide.
• Present the Draft zero of the handbook for review by MOH – Division of Reproductive and Maternal Health, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Division of Mental Health key stakeholders TWG.
• Field Testing of the handbook in 4 counties – Nairobi, Kisumu, West Pokot, and Kilifi at the county referral hospital and one sub-county hospital as part of the continuum of care package for ANC through to PNC for pregnant adolescents, with further refinement of handbook
• Present the Draft handbook to MOH – Division of Reproductive and Maternal Health, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Division of Mental Health stakeholders TWG for approval after necessary revisions.
• Plan and facilitate the validation meeting with relevant stakeholders on the draft handbook guide.
• Present finalized draft to MOH in soft copy Word, PDF, and slide summary

Deliverables

• Inception report
• Comprehensive report of the desktop review and analysis
• Detailed stakeholders’ consultations and workshop reports
• Draft a handbook guide for Mental health support for Pregnant adolescents
• Handbook guide for Mental health support for Pregnant adolescents (Word, PDF, 20-slide PowerPoint Presentation).
• Handbook guide for Mental health for Pregnant adolescents integrated into the Continuum of Care package for ANC through PNC

Collaborations and work relationships

The consultant will work closely with the MOH Division of Reproductive and Maternal Health and with the UNICEF Health specialist – Maternal and Newborn Health.

The consultant will also engage other relevant divisions within MoH – Division of Adolescent and School Health, Division of Mental Health, County Health Management team in the 4 counties (Nairobi, Kisumu, West Pokot, and Kilifi), and Maternal and Newborn Health TWG partners at National MoH level.

  All documents and reports are to be submitted in English and be submitted electronically.

 Costing  

 The consultant is expected to make a financial proposal based on the rate for professional fees.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, Social sciences or related fields
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in one or more of the following fields: Adolescent health, Mental health, Reproductive health, Maternal health.
• Demonstrated experience in the successful development of guidelines, policies, SOPs, and manuals.
• Experience in facilitating and coordinating technical meetings and workshops in the area of policy development is an added advantage.
• Prior experience working in the Ministry of Health, developing and implementing partners, and experience working with adolescents and young people is desirable.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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.

How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV, and their technical and financial proposals to the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System) or email provided.

Interested candidates are to indicate ability, availability, and daily rate expressed in Kenya Shillings.

Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

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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 afterward 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: 

The consultant will be required to provide all material resources including but not limited to laptop and office equipment he/she may need to successfully undertake the assignment.

The consultant will be required to work from his/her location. UNICEF will not provide office space for the consultant.

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.

Tagged as: Kenya, UNICEF