Back MHPSS Process Evaluation Consultant

Location: Lesvos, Greece (5 days) and remote (8.5 days)

Implementation period: August and/or September 2021

HIAS Europe is seeking an experienced consultant (hereafter ‘evaluator’) to undertake an independent process evaluation of the implementation of the “Emergency Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Lesvos, Greece” project.

HIAS has been working in Greece since 2016, with key support over the years from Islamic Relief USA. The program focused initially on legal protection. In 2020, following a devastating fire in the Moria Reception and Identification Center, Islamic Relief Worldwide joined this partnership and funded the initiation of MHPSS activities, allowing for a broadening of the programmatic scope of HIAS’ work in Greece. HIAS Europe and IRW will use the evaluation findings to circulate lessons learned and inform decision-making for ongoing MHPSS programming, with a specific focus on the multidisciplinary protection team model, outside of the immediate post-fire emergency situation. The project was implemented between December 1st 2020 and May 31st 2021. The evaluation is scheduled to take place during August/September 2021.

Context

The Eastern Mediterranean route, from Turkey to the Eastern Aegean Greek islands and onto other European countries, is one of the most widely travelled by refugees fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. There are close to 25,000 refugees and asylum seekers on the Aegean islands, living in “hotspots” where, due to crowded conditions, access to basic needs is scarce. Greece hosts about 121,000 refugees and migrants, 40 percent of whom are under the age of 18.

The devastating fires in the Moria Reception and Identification Center, occurring in the ongoing COVID-19 context, destabilized the lives of refugees and migrants on the island, cutting off access to income and increasing vulnerability to violence. To respond to these heightened needs during this challenging period, HIAS Greece modified its services, implementing remote support and developing other innovative solutions to overcome public health related restrictions. Subsequently, HIAS Greece has helped the most vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees, including single women, women-headed households, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), survivors of torture, older people, people with disabilities and serious medical conditions, and LGBTQ refugees through a range of MHPSS interventions.

Refugees and forcibly displaced people face adversity and extreme stressors, including loss of loved ones, violence, and disruptions to daily life. HIAS’ mental health programs train key community members to recognize acute emotional distress in children and adults as a result of crisis, and how to respond with empathy and respect. In addition to improving the well-being of asylum seekers, such support can make it easier for them to communicate relevant information during asylum procedures. Through HIAS’ mental health and psychosocial support team, who provides multi-layered mental health support, HIAS conducts individual assessments, and provides individual and group MHPSS interventions and/or referrals as needed.

The Emergency Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Refugees & Asylum Seekers in Lesvos project originally set out to:

1. recruit and deploy MHPSS staff to meet urgent psychosocial support needs;
2. deploy multidisciplinary mobile protection teams (lawyer, psychologist, and social worker) to provide wrap-around case management for refugees and asylum seekers;
3. strengthen community-based psychosocial support to promote wellbeing;
4. provide caregivers with support to cope with heightened stress within families.

Through the provision of quality emergency MHPSS services, as an addition to ongoing legal aid support, the project was to promote the well-being of refugees and asylum seekers, helping women, men, adolescents, and children to cope and survive.

Objective and Scope of Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is two-fold, as detailed below:

1. Assess the implementation of the project activities in each of the four components with a view on assessing the sustainability of the various project outputs;
2. Identify and articulate lessons learned that can inform future similar activities, as well as inform the development of follow-up MHPSS programming outside of the immediate emergency context.

The evaluation will seek to understand whether the design and implementation of the project were optimally linked to achieving the intended results, taking into account external factors that were contributing to or were constraining the delivery of outcomes.

The specific focus areas of the evaluation will include:

• Relevance and alignment of selected interventions and model to identified community needs, including the process of designing and/or selecting intervention(s), and whether and how the interventions met the needs of the target population, as well as faith-related considerations in this context.
• Project implementation process and practices, including how the multidisciplinary protection model was implemented in this context, project management processes and allocation of resources to the project, and skills-building and training for staff in order to deliver the intended activities.
• Review and articulate approaches and model of an integrated intervention among the mental health and psychosocial, and legal support program.
• Accountability to stakeholders, including project acceptance at community level, whether and how local communities and the intended target population were consulted, whether and how partners were consulted, and how the project is/was perceived by local organizations and actors.
• Project sustainability, including local organization/actor capacities and gaps, dynamic needs of the target population, and the long-term outlook for the project activities.

Lessons from the implementation of the project shall be analyzed in view of issuing recommendations for enhancing HIAS’ understanding of how to improve MHPSS programming and implementing an integrated MHPSS and legal model of intervention in Greece, and more generally in the context of mixed migration flows. The evaluation will have therefore a backward-looking and a forward-looking dimension. The evaluation will cover all project activities implemented during the project implementation phase.

The evaluation will also consider how the project design, implementation and delivery took into account the needs of people of all genders, including men, women, boys, girls, and non-binary individuals. Subsequently, HIAS also seeks input on how to better gender mainstream MHPSS project activities going forward.

While this specific consultancy is related to HIAS MHPSS programs on Lesvos, the relevance of these approaches may also apply for other contexts in Greece or the Mediterranean where HIAS plans to operate, or other contexts where a multidisciplinary protection approach may be appropriate in response to emergency.

Methodology

The selected consultant will be expected to spend about five days on Lesvos, Greece. The field work will be coordinated closely with, and facilitated by, the HIAS Greece team. The consultant will also work closely with the MHPSS Technical Team to ensure the assessment yields information and recommendations most useful to HIAS’ continued work in Greece.

The selected consultant is expected to develop the methodology, methods, and tools for data collection and analysis. The first deliverable will be a 2-3 page document outlining methodology and data collection methods.

The consultant is expected to use a participatory and rights-based approach that takes into account gender, socioeconomic status and contextual factors and that centers the experiences of project beneficiaries, i.e. the refugees and asylum seekers on Lesvos with whom HIAS has interacted within the context of the project’s implementation. The evaluation should give special consideration to the emergency context in which this project was developed and implemented.

A detailed evaluation design will be developed by the evaluator and should make use of a mix of data collection tools: desk review, field visit, interviews (in person and/or over the phone), questionnaires, as well as through reviewing other documentation such as financial information. The desk review will mainly include the following type of documents: case management files, intake reports, project documentation, meeting reports, etc.

Primary deliverables

1. Document outlining proposed methodology and approach. (2-3pages).
2. Assessment toolkit, to include (but not to be limited to) Focus Group Discussion guides and/or Key Informant Interview guides
3. Final report including 1) Executive Summary 2) Key Findings 3) Programmatic Recommendations. The tools, interview lists, and other relevant material should be placed in annex.
4. Web-based presentation of findings and recommendations to interested HIAS and IRW colleagues

Timeline:

• Consultations with Country Program; Regional MHPSS Technical Advisor; Director, Results and Impact; and other relevant HIAS staff.

  • 1 day
  • 4 hours of consultation to ensure consultant is familiar with the context and agreement regarding logistics related to the evaluation.

• Desk review

  • 1 day
  • Read relevant programmatic documents, including project proposal.

• Methodology Document

  • 1 day
  • The document will outline the Consultant’s suggest methodology including tools and approaches to be used.

• Tool Development

  • 1 day
  • Interview Guides, FGD guides, other tools finalized.

• Data Collection in-country

  • 5 days (incl. travel)
  • Interview with key stakeholders, focus group discussions, and observational visits to HIAS Greece operational sites.

• Draft Report

  • 3 days
  • One round of feedback from HIAS

• Review / Final Report

  • 1 day
  • Feedback incorporated from review of draft report.

• Debrief

  • 0.5 day
  • 1 hour web-based debrief with key stakeholders on findings and recommendations.
• Total days: 13.5

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in mental health, psychology, social work, law, political science, international relations or other relevant disciplines.
• At least 5 years demonstrated experience in designing, implementing, and conducting evaluations of humanitarian and/or emergency programming, preferably working with refugees and/or forcibly displaced populations;
• Demonstrated in-depth understanding and practical experience utilizing IASC MHPSS Guidelines; experience in protection, GBV and child protection projects a plus
• Experience in age, gender and diversity mainstreaming and community-based and human rights approaches preferred
• Experience conducting and facilitating interviews and group discussions in cross-cultural contexts
• Excellent research and communication (oral and written) skills
• Oral and written fluency in English required. Working knowledge of one or more of the following languages would be very beneficial: French, Arabic, Dari, and/or Pashto.