South Sudan: Mental health project proposal writing

Federation Handicap International (HI) is currently implementing an international Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) programme in four countries: Lebanon, Madagascar, South Sudan and Togo since 01-01-2014 with the financial assistance of AFD. This project is of 4years duration (Jan, 2014 – December, 2017).

The MHPSS project in South Sudan intends to develop policies and guidelines in mental health sector in addition to improving the service provisioning at community and secondary care level through developing and strengthening institutional services and community based MHPSS services. The project works in partnership with national Ministry of Health (MoH) and local NGOs in Juba communities, Juba Teaching Hospital (JTH) and Juba Central Prison (JCP).

To build upon the current project actions and to cover the cofounding needed for South Sudan, a concept note has been submitted in response to EIDHR call (EuropeAid/137172) and got preselected for submission of full proposal by 5^th October 2015.

1.Specific objectives of the mission

· To abide to the rules and procedures of the donor for the writing of a project on Touching Minds, Raising Dignity; to stop the stigma towards people living with mental health problems’ in Juba, South Sudan.

· To conduct/verify beneficiary needs, contextual and stakeholder analyses based on consultations that informed the development of the concept note prior to the writing of a full proposal according to requirements of the donor

· To write a full proposal (narrative, action plan, logical framework, annexes and a budget (with the finance coordinator and controller in charge)

2.Responsibilities and Tasks

· Effectively liaise and work with the programme team members in the process of the development of the proposal (Operational Coordinator/ Program director, Desk referent, MHPSS Project manager/team and Administrator).

· Ensure the project proposal fulfills the donor’s criteria (logical framework, budget and including all annexes requested by the donor) as well as ensure effective exchanges with the focal person responsible for this particular funding mechanism for adherence to rules and regulations, through the desk.

· Ensure that project proposal is aligned with South Sudan’s Country Programme Framework and adheres to the relevant technical standards.

· Ensure that project proposal is in coherence with the global project approved by the donor AFD which is currently getting implemented and as well as the time frame.

· Ensure effective technical exchanges with the Technical Advisor on MHPSS for overall technical coherence of the proposal.

3.Methodology

The methodology of the proposal writing process should be a participatory one and involving mainly the partners and the beneficiaries of the project that are people with mental health problems/caregivers and continuous collaboration, coordination and exchange with HI team including the Operational Coordinator, the Technical Advisor, Mental health on approaches, strategies and most effective interventions to adopt in light of the results of the exploratory mission. The consultant will also work with the MHPSS Project manager responsible for the ongoing MH project and Administrative Co-ordinator responsible for financial management at the programme for effective and efficient proposal writing.

The participatory process leading to the writing of the proposal will include but not be limited to the following methods:

o Develop complete understanding of the ongoing project (AFD proposal), existing materials and the concept note submitted to EU.

o Focus group discussions with potential beneficiaries, persons with mental health problems and support group representatives.

o Meetings with key stakeholders including services providers to get a sense of the programmatic gaps and priorities within the South Sudan context.

o Consultations/workshop with main project partners for building this project together.

o Field visits to target areas, if needed.

4.Documents to be read for preparing the mission

· HI South Sudan Country Programme Framework (2013-16),

· MH Programme convention framework,

· MH project concept note and current proposal,

· Draft Logical framework for proposed project,

· Planning of the ongoing project,

· 1^st donor report (Jan, 2014 – Mar, 2015),

· Baseline assessment report at JTH, JCP,

· Draft MH service mapping,

· Guideline of the call for proposal (Ref: EuropeAid/137172)

5.Deliverables

· A full proposal with all the required documents and sections asked by the donor before the deadline agreed with the consultant:

o Full proposal validated by the TA, OC/DP and DDO

o Logical framework validated by the TA, OC/DP and DDO

o Action plan validated by the TA, OC/DP and DDO

o Risks analysis and mitigation validated by the TA, OC/DP and DDO Budget validated by the Financial Controller and DDO

6.Profile of the consultant

The consultant will need to have the following capacities:

· Proven experience in EU proposal constraints and writing EU proposals

· Proven track record for writing proposal in health related areas

· Background in MHPSS is preferred

· Very good analytical skills

· Very knowledgeable of participatory approaches and consultations

· Very good command of English (spoken and written)

· Very good ability to work in a different cultural contexts and in multidisciplinary team

7.Budget: 6000€ to 7000€

Consultant must provide a synthetic technical and financial proposition (2 pages max).

Send your resume and your proposition before 15/09/2015 to eagut@handicap-international.org