MHPSS (Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support Services) Counsellor

(Only women are encouraged to apply)

 

Name of Project           :      Inclusive Services and Opportunities (ISO) for Human Capital Development and

                                                   Livelihood

 

 

 

Number of positions   :     05

Location of posting      :     Cox’s Bazar District Hospital, Ukhia Upzila Helath Complex, Chittagong Medical

                                                   College Hospital, Cumilla Medical College Hospital and Noakhali Medical College

                                                   Hospital

           Duration of Contract   :     Fixed-term contract up to 31 December 2026 (renewable depending on funding

                                                                availability and performance)  

 

Salary and benefits      :     Monthly Gross Salary BDT. 38,339 with other admissible benefits such as mobile

& internet allowance, group life insurance etc

Background/Job Summary

According to the Population and Housing Census 2022 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Chattogram Division has a population of 33,202,326 people (33.7%) across 7,528,141 households. The incidence of extreme poverty, as per estimates from the lower poverty line, stands at 13.10% in the division. The youth population (15-24) increased from 18.16% in 2011 to 19.11% in 2022. Widows, divorced women, and separated women represent 8.94%, 0.46%, and 0.46% respectively of the division's population.

 

The Chattogram Division, including Cox’s Bazar District, has recorded some of the highest gender-based violence (GBV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) prevalence rates in Bangladesh, as indicated by the 2024 Violence Against Women (VAW) survey conducted by BBS in collaboration with UNFPA. Findings revealed that 78.5% of ever-married women have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime, with 45.5% subjected to physical violence, 34.1% encountering sexual violence, and 70.8% reporting controlling behaviors from an intimate partner. Despite these concerning statistics, 72.8% of survivors did not disclose or report their experiences, underscoring the urgent need for strengthened intervention mechanisms, survivor-cantered services, and comprehensive policy frameworks. Only 6% women seek legal support, and 50% women are unaware of where to report a GBV incident.

 

To respond to these challenges, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) manages one district level One Stop Crisis Center in Cox’s Bazar and four One Stop Crisis Cells (OCC) in the upazilas of Ukhiya, Teknaf, Moheshkhali and Kutubdia. The facilities are located within the premises of the district and upazila hospitals managed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). From 2021 to 2024, the Health and Gender Support Project (HGSP) - funded by the World Bank and supported by UNFPA - provided support to strengthen the integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response services in these facilities. The project also upgraded the GBV services to ensure their alignment with the international standards, i.e. survivor-cantered GBV case management services, enhanced provision of psychosocial counselling, stronger referral system, and a safe, ethical and confidential GBV data management system. The HGSP catalysed partnership and collaboration among MoWCA, MoHFW and UNFPA, improving access and utilization of the multi-sectoral GBV response services. Today the OCCs are fully functional and provide the upgraded services to women and girls in need.

 

In continuation with the achievements of the HGSP, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) is leading the implementation of the “Inclusive Services and Opportunities (ISO) for Human Capital Development and Livelihood” project with UNFPA technical assistance and the World Bank financial support. The ISO Project aims to increase access to life-saving and comprehensive gender-based violence (GBV) and child marriage prevention and response services, skills development support, information and awareness for women, adolescents, and youth in the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar and Bhashan Char, as well as for Host Communities (HCs) in Chattogram Division. In the context of the project, MOWCA will run various GBV response facilities - One Stop Crisis Centres, Cells, Regional Trauma Centre, and safe shelters - across the 11 districts of Chattogram Division in order to continue provide essential GBV response services, and align them with international guidelines and tools. UNFPA will provide human resource deployment and capacity enhancement support to these facilities.

 

In this context, the MHPSS Counsellor will closely work with the Department of Women Affairs (DWA) and MoWCA representatives to ensure the quality implementation and provision of the GBV response services in the MOWCA run facilities - One Stop Crisis Centre, One Stop Crisis Cells, Regional Trauma Centre and safe shelters - in the Chattogram Division.

Key responsibilities include (not limited to)

Provision of Counselling Support (50% of Time)

·         Provide immediate and ongoing survivor-centered psychosocial counseling following Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC GBV) tools and guidelines, particularly the  Minimum Standards.

·         Conduct psychosocial and protection risk assessments to understand the survivor’s needs, risks, and priorities.

·         Deliver Psychological First Aid (PFA), safety planning, emotional stabilization, and coping support.

·         Provide structured counseling sessions for survivors requiring extended support.

·         Ensure all services are provided with informed consent, privacy, and confidentiality.

·         Link the survivors with the GBV case workers as required to facilitate access to the GBV case management services.

·         Prepare accurate reports for all counselling support related activities.

·       Carry out client satisfaction surveys for the closed file, where applicable, based on existing data collection tools, and analyses the surveys regularly.

·       Ensure that GBV guiding principles and survivor centered approaches are upheld by the GBV case workers while dealing with the survivors and managing the cases.

Case Management Supervision (30% of Time)

·         Conduct intake, develop service plans, and track progress in collaboration with OCC staff.

·         Coordinate closely with medico-legal doctors, police desks, legal aid officers, and DWA staff for smooth service delivery.

·         Identify high-risk or complex cases requiring referral to district-level MHPSS Officers or specialist case workers following

·         Link the survivors with the GBV case workers as required to facilitate access to the GBV case management services.

·         Ensure that the survivor's needs are met as per the case management action plans developed by the GBV case workers, based on the needs and wishes expressed by the survivors.

·         Provide case management supervision support to the case workers to ensure that the IASC case management guidelines are implemented properly.

·         Provide time-to-time support to the case worker to enhance competency and quality of service provision.

·         Provide weekly individual supervision sessions to case workers, with the aim of reviewing the case files and discussing the challenges encountered in the provision of case management services.

·         Monitor the case workers’ activities and provide regular feedback to improve performance.

·         When needed, back up the case workers for the provision of GBV case management services to survivors, while maintaining the GBV guiding principles and following the IASC GBV case management steps and procedures.

Reporting and Documentation (15% of Time)

·         Produce monthly and quarterly progress reports and share them with the concerned parties, including UNFPA and MOWCA based on the reporting matrix of the ISO project.

·       Maintain all service-related data properly and accurately, document key interventions and trends, and ensure data safety and security including by keeping records under lock, in line with the survivor-centered approach and global guidelines.

·         Maintain confidential survivor files according to global GBV information management standards.

·         Ensure all documentation is stored under lock and key and never shared without consent.

·         Update daily service registers, intake forms, and ISO reporting templates.

·         Submit weekly and monthly reports to the relevant officials.

Networking and Liaison (15% of Time)

·         Support hospital-based awareness activities and information dissemination about OCC services.

·         Provide survivor-friendly orientation on available services, rights, and safety options.

·         Participate in targeted information sessions for adolescents, women’s groups, or community visitors when requested.

·   Coordinate the development and update the service mapping to ensure smooth and effective referral mechanism & coordinate services to ensure multisectoral response for survivors, with assistance from the GBV case workers across the service facilities in the district.

·         Maintain regular liaison and communication with other service providers in order to provide mutual referrals to survivors in an effective, efficient and timely manner.

·         Participate and represent the facility in various coordination platforms, such as cluster, sector, sub-sector or working group meetings at the district and upazila levels.

Impact of the results and deliverables

The main results/deliverables include - but are not limited to

·         The facility is operational with all essential services in place.

·         Strong linkages are developed and maintained with relevant stakeholders including hospital authorities, justice, legal, and other social services.

·         Quality counselling is provided to the women and girls accessing the facilities.

·         GBV case management services are provided following the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) GBV Case Management Guidelines.

·         Available networks and platforms are informed on the available GBV services to promote service seeking behavior among women and girls. High-quality psychosocial support delivered.

·         Safe, confidential documentation maintained.

·         Regular reporting submitted to relevant authorities.

·         Functional referral pathways are established at district level.

·         Improved survivor satisfaction and service-seeking at the facility.

Relationships

The MHPSS Counsellor directly reports to the MOWCA officer as designated by the ISO-GBV Project Director.

Required Educational Qualification and Experience

·         Bachelor’s degree in psychology, Clinical Psychology, Counseling, or Social Work or relevant field.

·         Minimum 1-2 years of working experience in counselling activities, preferably in relation to gender-based violence prevention & response

·         Training on GBV Case Management or MHPSS is an asset.

·         Clear understanding of GBV guiding principles, gender, human rights, issues surrounding violence against women and girls.

·         Experience working with community members, especially with women and girls

·         Have sound knowledge on the situation of women and girls in Bangladesh

·         Experience working with non-governmental organizations or with local government authorities.

·         Familiarity with the One-Stop Crisis Center and Cell model is an asset.

·         Experience in preparing progress reports, monitoring reports and presentations.

Technical Skills

·         Proficient in written and verbal communication in both English and Bengali languages. Fluency in Chittagonian language is a    strong asset.

·         Good computer skills, including the use of Word and Excel applications.  

Application instructions

Only those who meet the above requirements are requested to apply following these instructions:

·   The last date of application is 09 December 2025. Due to emergency, recruitment will be on rolling.

   The interested candidates are requested to apply early before deadline

·   Please click here to submit your application. 

 

ActionAid Bangladesh aims to attract and select a diverse workforce ensuring equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, age, gender, sexual orientation, HIV status, class, ethnicity, disability, location and religion. Any personal persuasion/phone call will result in disqualification of candidature.