Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan is a strong advocate for improving the lives of women and girls in the country. Building on the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, we are working to enhance women’s leadership; the elimination of violence against women; involving women in all aspects of decision making; economic empowerment of women, promote women participation in Women, Peace and Security agenda, eliminating stigma and discrimination against HIV positive women and girls.

UN Women in Kyrgyzstan prioritizes initiatives and programs in areas fundamental to achieving equality for women and finding ways of progress for both women and men. At the moment, the UN Women Country office continues implementing the HIV program with the financial support of UNAIDS global allocation for 2024-25. The project has three priority objectives: 1) Community engagement and capacity building – to support those partners, women-led initiatives, girls, and women, and other key population groups living with HIV, with whom UN Women CO have been working over the past 3 years. 2) Partnership with the government and their ownership in the future – to enhance the capacity of local and national governmental agencies in understanding gender aspects and addressing HIV challenges through collaborative activities. 3) Sensitizing religious leadership on HIV and gender – by promoting gender and HIV nexus within the religious leadership. It is anticipated to pioneer and start supporting new initiatives in line with “He for She campaign” and develop collaboration with religious male leaders to challenge traditional gender norms and biases and develop programs specifically tailored for women and girls from religious communities to encourage the inclusion of women living with HIV in leadership positions.

Within this project UN Women is seeking to hire a Lead trainer on mental health and art therapy who will work under the overall supervision of the Head of Osh Office and direct supervision of the Project Manager. The Consultant will be responsible for conducting two 3-days Training of Trainers for “Community Rehabilitators” one training in Osh and one in Bishkek on innovative rehabilitation methods, including art therapy, individual consultations, peer-to-peer counselling techniques, and assistance with medical referrals for treatment and care to effectively respond to stressful situations and provide equal support to community members and those living with HIV. It is expected that 50 girls and women living with HIV, along with their family members in the north and south regions, who require psychological support and are willing to provide peer-to-peer support as “Community Rehabilitators”, underwent training on overcoming mental health challenges related to HIV. They will learn strategies for overcoming self-stigma and societal stigma, as well as how to utilize tools for providing psychosocial peer-to-peer counseling and support. Furthermore, they will receive up-to-date information on resources to address stigma and discrimination constructively, along with additional qualified and professional services.

Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

Under direct supervision and overall guidance of National Program Officer and direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Lead Trainer on mental health and art therapy will lead and conduct trainings on mental health rehabilitation techniques. Specifically, the Lead Trainer will be responsible for the following:

• To conduct two rounds of 3-day Training of Trainers (ToT) (one in Osh and one in Bishkek) for ‘Community Rehabilitators’ on innovative rehabilitation methods, including art therapy, individual consultations, peer-to-peer counseling techniques, and assistance with medical referrals for treatment and care, to effectively respond to stressful situations and provide equal support to community members and those living with HIV.

As a result of two TOTs 50 girls and women living with HIV, along with their family members in the north and south regions, who require psychological support and are willing to provide peer-to-peer support as “Community Rehabilitators”, will undergo training on overcoming mental health challenges related to HIV. They will learn strategies for overcoming self-stigma and societal stigma, as well as how to utilize tools for providing psychosocial peer-to-peer counseling and support. Furthermore, they will receive up-to-date information on resources to address stigma and discrimination constructively, along with additional qualified and professional services.

The ToTs and follow-up counselling sessions as well as peer-to-peer sessions will aid in reducing self-stigma among people living with HIV and key populations. The total number of days for this assignment is 16 days, where the Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

I.   Carry out the preparation of the ToT content (development of the training module) (2 days):

– Develop a training programme;

– Adapt the methodology/tools to the project context (HIV);

– Prepare pre-post tests for evaluation of training results;

– Prepare evaluation checklist for training participants.

II.    Conduct two 3-days Training of Trainers on mental health and psychological tools, including art-therapy to overcome self-stigmatization and other mental help techniques to enable participants to provide peer-to-peer support (7 days in total);

• With the support of UN Women and its partners mobilize participants to the workshop;
• Conduct two ToTs (1 in Osh and 1 in Bishkek) on agreed dates.

III. Conduct individual counselling sessions for ToT participants and key population groups (up to 15 people in total) – (3 days)

IV.   Develop analysis, debriefing and documentation of results of two trainings (2 days)

– Processing and analysis of pre-post tests, score sheets;

– Analysis of training results;

– Preparation of training reports and recommendations for each training.

V. Develop final analytical report, including: (2 days).

• a summary of the findings;
• analysis of the identified capacities, needs and solutions of key population groups on applying obtained techniques and tools;
• recommendations of opportunities to further strengthen the capacities and engagement of CSOs.

Timeframe, payments and deliverables 

The payments will be made in KGS after the deliverables are submitted in accordance with ‘Deliverables Plan’, accepted and approved by UN Women. The Consultant shall provide a report on deliverables with all necessary attachments describing the scope of work performed over the period for which the instalment is paid:

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

• This is a home-based consultancy. At the same time, UN Women will provide access to UN Women Office during working hours for Consultant to print relevant documents or whenever required to work on-site at any point during the assignment;
• As part of this assignment, there will be one trip to Osh, if Consultant based in Bishkek and vice versa.

Duration of Assignment:

The expected duration of the Consultant is to be 16 working days throughout from 11th November 2024 till 31st December 2024.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

Functional competencies (which includes knowledge and skills) are defined by responsibilities of a given job. Functional competencies vary between roles in a Job Family and between Job Families themselves. They are often specific to each Job Family. Typically, 5-6 functional competencies are assigned to a given job. Some examples: technical credibility in X, resilience, business acumen, risk management, change management, negotiation, commitment to continuous improvement, partnerships building, marketing, accounting, research, business planning. Please note that the functional competencies should not overlap with the experiences in the qualifications section. Functional competencies can be assessed during the selection process (e.g. video assessments, written test or interview).

• Technical credibility in psychology and individual psychological counselling;
• Flexibility in adapting learning materials based on the specific needs of TOT participants;
• Strong interpersonal communication skills

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel 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.)