Project Officer (Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)) (P)

The Project Officer (MHPSS) will contribute to the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of mental health and psychosocial support activities integrated within the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The role focuses on addressing the psychosocial needs of vulnerable migrants and returnees, providing specialized MHPSS services, capacity building, and coordination with partners.

Responsibilities

• Identify protocols to promote mental health and psychosocial support and design operational plans to enhance access of vulnerable migrants and TNCs to MHPSS specialized and focused services based on rapid MHPSS assessments and diagnostic.
• Provide initial screening of migrants in distressed and preexistent mental health conditions, with particular focus on suicidal risk assessments and suicidal preventive measures.
• Provide specialized and focused MHPSS services to vulnerable migrants and referral of those migrants who might require psychiatric and/or health care, including referral to mental health institutions/specialists and follow-up on case management modalities.
• Identify migrants who might require protection services and refer them to the IOM DRC protection unit and/or other national and international service providers in Kinshasa (CRS, UNHCR).
• Support cultural orientation activities in coordination with IOM colleagues in charge of operations and local associations, including faith-based organizations, diaspora groups, and sports-arts clubs.
• Support the IOM-assisted voluntary return program with dedicated psychosocial sessions to emotionally and psychologically prepare migrants to travel, reintegrate in the communities of origin, or integrate in those of the final destination.
• Provide specialized technical guidance and oversight to the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of IOM capacity building initiatives at the national level, ensuring alignment with IASC MHPSS Guidelines, IOM MHPSS Strategic Framework 2024–2028, IOM Field Manual on MHPSS, MHPSS Minimum Service Package (MSP), and WHO mhGAP-HIG.
• Develop training materials for IOM MRC-AVR staff and implementing partners, considering existing resources of IOM MHPSS intervention, Protection, AVR, and Reintegration.
• Train MHPSS focal points to support the implementation of psychosocial support activities in MRC, as well as national stakeholders and local service providers related to the migrants’ arrival, post-arrival, and reception assistance.
• Provide training sessions to IOM staff, including translators, drivers, and security operators, in the MRC-AVR project on Psychological First Aid (PFA) to assist migrants who are in critical conditions and/or in a deep state of distress.
• Contribute to the contextualization, harmonization, and continuous updating of technical tools, clinical protocols, practical guides, checklists, SOPs, and supervision frameworks to be adopted by mental health national institutions and disseminated through the national and provincial GTTs.
• Ensure that MHPSS interventions in the MRC-AVR project are life-saving oriented, gender-responsive, culturally adapted, inclusive of persons with disabilities, and consistently mainstream Protection, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH), safeguarding and data protection in line with the IOM Data Protection Principles and humanitarian principles (humanity, neutrality, impartiality, independence).
• Ensure that confidentiality and the right to privacy are maintained regarding personal information, psychotherapies, and psychiatric treatments.
• In accordance with structured reporting requirements and informal reporting needs, prepare clear and concise reports of all activities undertaken.
• Contribute to the development of concept notes, project proposals, logical frameworks, budgets, workplans, and donor reports, ensuring technical soundness and coherence with IOM programmatic standards and the requirements of key donors.
• Contribute to the documentation, dissemination, and institutionalization of lessons learned, good practices, and innovations from the MRC-AVR project, including through internal knowledge-sharing platforms and external publications.
• Undertake regular duty travel to IOM field offices and operational areas in DRC to provide on-site technical support, mentoring, and supervision, as required.
• Perform any other relevant duties as assigned by the supervisor in support of the effective implementation of MHPSS activities and coordination mechanisms in DRC.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, Counselling, or related fields from an accredited academic institution with three years of relevant professional experience; or, University degree in the above fields with five years of relevant professional experience.
• Professional accreditation from a recognized medical, psychological, or counselling association or society is an advantage.
• Accredited Universities are those listed in the UNESCO World Higher Education Database.
• Proven experience in integrating MHPSS in migrants’ post-assistance and Migrant Reception Centers (MRCs).
• Experience in clinical supervision and institutional capacity building is an asset.
• Experience working with migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and other vulnerable groups.
• Knowledge and experience in facilitating training and developing training curricula.
• Prior work experience with international humanitarian organizations, non-governmental or government institutions/organizations in a multi-cultural setting.
• Capacity to effectively coordinate actions with other implementing partners, including institutional counterparts.
• Capacity to support adequate levels of information sharing between internal units, cluster partners, IOM, and other emergency and post-recovery response actors.
• Proven interpersonal and teamwork skills.
• Excellent communication and report-writing skills.
• Knowledge of protection principles and IOM policies and procedures is an advantage.
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required (oral and written).
• Working knowledge of another official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, and Russian) is an advantage.
• Proficiency in language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process, which may include written and/or oral assessments.

Skills

• Clinical Psychology
• Counselling
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
• MHPSS Integration
• Migrant Assistance
• Clinical Supervision
• Institutional Capacity Building
• Training Facilitation
• Training Curriculum Development
• Working with Migrants and Refugees
• Gender-Based Violence Response
• Humanitarian Program Execution
• Multicultural Environment Coordination
• Partner Coordination
• Information Sharing
• Report Writing
• MS Word
• MS Excel
• MS PowerPoint
• Protection Principles Application

Languages

English, Spanish