Hiring Office:    

Egypt Country Office

Purpose of consultancy:    

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the sexual and reproductive health agency of the UN. It aims to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person can fulfil their potential. UNFPA is a leading agency in responding to Gender-based Violence (GBV) in humanitarian settings, providing life-saving services for women and girls affected by crises.
Based on UNHCR Operational Data, Egypt currently hosts over 1 million refugees and asylum-seekers, most of whom are women and children escaping conflicts in Sudan and Syria. The 218% increase in the refugee population since 2023 has severely overstretched service capacity. Humanitarian service providers are struggling to support the rising protection needs, a challenge compounded by funding cuts to essential services and staff which have posed additional pressure to humanitarian partners.
Compounding these challenges, humanitarian staff working in GBV response programmes also face unique threats to their safety and resilience due to the nature of their work. Their role as frontline workers involve responding to time-sensitive and rapidly evolving cases of violence, leading staff to high levels of stress, and emotional burnout. Without appropriate support, GBV humanitarian workers can also struggle with secondary trauma and severe emotional distress arising from their support role to GBV survivors, for instance, documenting traumatic incidents throughout GBV Case Management, and individual counselling sessions as well as responding to vulnerable people under overstretched resources can place additional pressure on them.
UNFPA operates 13 Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) across seven governorates providing comprehensive support to Gender-based violence (GBV) and those at high risk from refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities. WGSS are sustained by over 50 staff members and numerous volunteers daily supporting GBV survivors, whether directly or indirectly, through GBV Case Management, mental health and psycho-support (MHPSS) sessions, and Cash Assistance Support, among other services. WGSS staff also respond beyond working hours to emergency medical needs and critical GBV incidents in need of safe relocation.
As part of the Duty of Care, organizations have a legal and moral obligation to protect and enhance staff safety and well-being, including foreseeing and preventing risks that may harm their personnel. This includes protecting and supporting staff in taking care of their mental health. In alignment with the Minimum Standards for GBV Programming in Humanitarian Settings, Standard 3, Staff Care and Support, UNFPA recognizes its responsibility to promote staff well-being and foster a healthy, enabling working environment. The organization is dedicated to providing essential MHPSS for its staff and maintaining a work environment that actively prevents harm by ensuring staff access to individual MHPSS sessions.

Purpose: 
The purpose of this consultancy is to hire a consultant or team to offer individual MHPSS sessions in the form of individual psychotherapy for up to 54 WGSS staff members and an estimate of 15 volunteers. 
These sessions will help them manage secondary trauma and stress, develop skills to prevent burnout, and foster a safe and healthy workplace. Ultimately, this will enable staff to effectively handle stress and work-related disputes.
Based on current staffing levels, UNFPA projects a range of 100 to 200 individual counseling sessions over the contract period. UNFPA commits to a minimum of 100 sessions; however, the final number delivered will be determined by staff demand, consultant session fees, and available budget.
Scope of work:

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)    

The consultant or consultant team is expected to provide the following services:
1.    Delivering Individual Counselling sessions for MHPSS for WGSS staff and volunteers
●    The sessions will be individual and have a duration of one hour.
●    Based on current staffing levels, UNFPA projects a range of 100 to 200 individual counseling sessions over the contract period. UNFPA commits to a minimum of 100 sessions; however, the final number delivered will be determined by staff demand, consultant session fees, and available budget.
●    The activity will take particular attention to staff dealing directly with GBV survivors on a regular basis (GBV Case Management team, MHPSS team Case Management team leaders), ensuring that they can attend at least four sessions, if requested.
●    Staff taking on other roles such as administrative, medical support and field coordination should be able to attend at least three sessions, if requested.
●    Due to budget limitations, the eligibility of volunteers for these sessions will be determined through a joint assessment by UNFPA and Implementing Partners, based on their role and functions. However, volunteers working in frontline emergency services, such as safe relocation support and medical emergency response, will be prioritized and should receive a minimum of two sessions if eligible, and requested, given the high-stress nature of their work.
●    The consultant or team of consultants are expected to manage staff information with the highest standards of confidentiality and safety. 
●    In any case will UNFPA request personal data, but only non-identifiable information on the number of staff and sessions provided by the consultant or firm for reporting and budgeting purposes.

2.    Interim Report
The consultant or consultant team is expected to share an interim progress report at the end of the first month with the total number of pending appointments, sessions completed, and number of staff enrolled.
3.    Final report
The consultant or firm will provide a final report within two weeks of finalizing the contract, documenting the total number of sessions provided, total number of staff supported, and number of staff with follow up sessions.

Deliverables:
(1)    Inception report (brief):  A brief document in English and Arabic indicating: Contact information to book appointments, process for booking, and location for in-person sessions, phone number and platform for online sessions. 
 

(2)    Delivery of sessions: The consultant team will deliver the sessions to the staff who requests in the selected modality.
 

(3)    Interim Report (brief): A document in English and/or Arabic indicating: Number of individuals with appointments, Number of individuals having completed sessions, Number of sessions completed, and Number of scheduled appointments. 
 

(4)    Final Report: A document in English and/or Arabic detailing: Methodologies used, Total number of individuals having completed sessions, Total number of sessions completed, Percentage distribution of total sessions by roles (GBV Caseworker, psychologist, etc.), Financial records and/or invoices for sessions.

 
Duration and working schedule:    

The contract will cover November and December 2025.
●    Individual sessions should be available in a timeframe that includes weekdays from 5 PM to 9 PM and during weekends to ensure availability out of UNFPA staff working hours.
●    The expected duration of each individual session is one hour.

Place where services are to be delivered:

    ●    The consultant or firm will be available to deliver online sessions for all governorates, and online and in person sessions in Greater Cairo.
●    The consultant or firm will be available for managing appointments directly with staff through phone and e-mail.
 

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):    

The inception, interim and final report will be delivered in a readable file through e-mail.
 

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:    

The progress will be monitored through the Interim Report, and Final Report. The deliverables expected submission dates are:
1.    The inception report will be submitted within the first week of the contract.
2.    The sessions are expected to be delivered through November and December 2025.
3.    The interim report will be submitted after one month of the beginning of the contract.
4.    The final report will be submitted within 15 days after the finalization of the contract, 15th January, 2026. 
UNFPA will request in advance before the final report submission and before the contract end, an estimate of sessions delivered, and pending appointments in order to process the final payment before the end of the contract.

Supervisory arrangements:     

The consultant or team of consultants will report to Ms. Jisu Kim, Humanitarian Analyst at UNFPA Egypt Country Office.

Expected travel:

    N/A

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

The consultant team members are required to:
●    Hold a valid university diploma of Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry or related fields.
●    Have over five years of experience in clinical psychology, and providing individual counselling services.
●    Fluency in Arabic.
●    Demonstrated sectoral knowledge and experience in providing individual psychotherapy/counseling for issues specific to humanitarian aid work and GBV, including: Secondary Trauma/Vicarious Trauma, Burnout Prevention and Management and Stress Management.
●    A strong ethical framework and proven ability to maintain strict confidentiality and professional boundaries while working with a UN agency and sensitive staff data.
 

Interested consultants are invited to submit:
●    A brief technical proposal including methodology for counselling, availability, approach to the assignment, and list of team members.
●    CVs of all team members highlighting relevant experience and academic background.
●    Financial proposal detailing rate per session, and total estimated cost.
Please, submit the technical and financial proposal in separate files.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:    
N/A

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:    
Payment will be processed in two installments: a partial payment covering the guaranteed minimum of 100 sessions will be made upon contract signature, and the remaining balance will be transferred upon the successful completion and final calculation of all sessions provided