Psychosocial Support Coordinator

IECD (Institut Européen de Coopération et de Développement) is a French non-governmental organization founded in 1988 and operating in the field of social and economic development in partnership with local institutions. IECD’s main sectors of action are vocational training and professional integration, assistance to micro and small enterprises and access to education and health for the most vulnerable. In Lebanon, IECD has been operating in the country since 1988 and opened a regional office in Beirut in 2007.

Semeurs d’Avenir (SDA) is a Lebanese association, created in 2010, registered under the number 1905. It is the operational partner of IECD in Lebanon.

Local context

On August 4th, 2020, a massive blast in the Beirut port area killed over 200 people, wounded over 7,500 and left up to 300,000 people homeless or with damaged houses. Thousands of infrastructures and institutions have been destroyed or damaged such as the Beirut port itself, nearby hospitals, schools and universities, enterprises, among other infrastructures.

This adds to the worst economic crisis the country has been enduring for months. The catastrophe placed additional strains on the already exhausted population that was falling into dangerous levels of poverty, in addition to the surge in people affected by the COVID-19, and the political and social turmoil.

The challenges are major:

• The reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected areas, businesses, and homes,
• The launch of the 2021-2022 school year, after two years marked with great pedagogical discontinuity, and difficulties for students and teachers alike to maintain learning activities online.

Presentation of the project

IECD and its Lebanese partner Semeurs d’Avenir are implementing a project in response to the crisis, in the frame of the activities implemented over 30 years. All the components of the initiative Maharat Li Lubnan (MLL) launched in 2017 through the support of AFD, have been affected by the crisis. To date, the initiative could:

• Implement on-the-job trainings for 1386 vulnerable beneficiaries in various technical fields, thus enhancing their access to job opportunities and their social integration,
• Create 2 technical Baccalaureates in Industrial maintenance (2017) and IT development (2019),
• Introduce 99 people to entrepreneurship in order to launch their own activity generating incomes,

While some of the activities need to be supported to achieve the initial objectives and to continue supporting the project's stakeholders, others may contribute directly to the response to the needs that emerged following the explosions on August 4^th.

In response, the two organizations propose an action plan based on the following axes:

1. Trainings and placement of vulnerable youth on urgently needed reconstruction activities,
2. Securing the back-to-school season and the school year by supporting schools in reopening and teachers in adapting their mission,
3. Support to micro-entrepreneurs affected through in-kind assistance and coaching to resume activities and secure livelihoods,

As part of these activities, a psychosocial component is integrated into the project to address the psychosocial impacts of the recent events in the country and more specifically the psychosocial needs of teachers and students in 4 technical partner schools in the Beirut area (116 students and 32 teachers), in the technical specialties of Computer Programming and Industrial Maintenance. Students and teachers have faced considerable challenges in the past 2 years that might have severely hindered their learning and teaching capacities and motivations:

• School closures starting in October 2019 resulting in delays in learning,
• Prolonged lockdowns that may have had severe consequences on the socialization of learners in and out of school,
• Prolonged periods of online learning possibly resulting in a disconnection between learners and teachers, loss of focus and motivation and a disconnection to learning putting some students at risk of drop-out,
• Degradation of their family economic situation,
• Covid-related challenges – (including family losses)
• Blast related trauma,
• Loss of hope and perspective in the future. Teachers can feel discouraged and overwhelmed while students may have difficulties projecting themselves into their learning and professional future in the current instability.

IECD and SDA are thus recruiting a PSS Coordinator to lead and implement the PSS intervention under a 6-month fixed-term contract.

Under the responsibility of the Project Director and in coordination with the Project Managers, the PSS Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

1/ Build the framework of the PSS intervention and coordinate its implementation

• Create a framework for the psychosocial intervention, precising the methodology, the strategy and the steps of the implementation,
• Develop tools to implement, monitor and assess the impact of psychosocial activities, with respect to the privacy of the beneficiaries,
• Visit the technical schools and build trust with the school director and teachers to implement the PSS interventions,
• Analyze the PSS needs and identify key needs to be tackled,
• Map specialized PSS partners and build partnership with relevant PSS partners to conduct sessions with the beneficiaries,
• Coordinate the implementation of the PSS intervention with the various stakeholders (schools director and teachers, students, directorate of technical schools, specialized PSS partners), with the support of the Project Director and the Project Managers.

2/ Build Network and partnership 

• Ensure that the response of IECD and SDA is well coordinated with other actors implementing PSS activities in the field: civil society organizations, local institutions, community leaders,
• Facilitate the exchange of technical information between the project team and actors on the subject,
• Participate and represent IECD and SDA in thematic events (meetings, congresses, seminars, etc.).

3/ Internal capacity building

• Participate in creating a framework for the psychosocial intervention in times of crisis,
• Capitalize the intervention history and lessons learned,
• Contribute to the dissemination of PSS knowledge internally, to field teams and headquarter,
• Train the project team on PSS basic principles,
• Ensure the coordination of the project PSS intervention with the other PSS interventions of the organization.

Education

Social worker degree or Master’s degree in clinical or educational psychology

PSS trainings and certifications would be a must.

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in the mental health and humanitarian field,
• Previous experience in implementing and coordinating PSS interventions in the educational field is required (formal or non-formal, technical education is a plus),
• Working experience in a multicultural context,
• Experience in coordinating and training teams.

Skills

• Organization and team coordination,
• Excellent interpersonal communication,
• Proficiency in the Arabic language (oral / written) mandatory,
• Good oral and writing skills in English mandatory, French is a plus,
• Understanding and/or appeal for technical education challenges.

Qualities 

• Autonomy, dynamism, proactivity,
• Responsiveness and ability to adapt,
• Good interpersonal skills, ability to manage intercultural relations,
• Sense of organization, human relations, and teamwork,
• Adherence to IECD values: a look at the person, the spirit of service, a professional commitment.

Under the responsibility of: Project Director 

Location:  Beirut with regular field visits in Beirut area

Position dates:  01/07/2021 maximum – 31/12/2021

Contract: 6 months

Package: to be determined

Salary Range: 1500-2000 USD