About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy: Mental Health Technical Assistance Consultant  

Duty Station: Programme Group - MHPSS

Duration: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

Hosted within the Health Centre of Excellence, the Mental Health (MH) Technical Assistance Consultant will be supervised by the Mental Health Policy and Advocacy Officer. The consultant serves as a core technical resource for multisectoral Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) programming across high-income and upper-middle income country contexts, with an estimated 80 per cent level of effort devoted to dedicated technical assistance for National Committees for UNICEF (NatComs). The remaining level of effort will support broader learning, thought leadership on high-income country (HIC) typologies, and time-bound gap filling technical support to Country and Regional Offices in non-humanitarian contexts, as feasible and agreed.

The main function of this role is to provide technical guidance, capacity strengthening, and strategic coordination to NatComs to ensure UNICEF’s mental health programming is coherent, evidence-informed, and responsive to diverse country contexts. Support includes the formulation, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of advocacy and programming strategies related to mental health and child rights in high-income countries, in line with UNICEF’s Programme Guidance for PHICs and the global MHPSS portfolio. This ensures efficient and effective programme management and achievement of goals through advocacy, legal and policy development, and networking. The consultant will also advance multi-sectoral and system-strengthening approaches that promote equitable access to MHPSS, build community and institutional resilience, and improve coordination across UNICEF sectors, offices, and partners.

In collaboration with UNICEF Programme Group (PG) and Private Fundraising and Partnership (PFP) colleagues, the consultant will also support the field testing and capacity building associated with the Mental Health in High-Income Countries (HICs) Toolkit, and guide NatComs in applying its recommendations for effective policy advocacy, social and behavioral change (SBC), evidence generation and partnership engagement with key actors including local governments, civil society organizations (CSOs), the private sector (including with The Global Coalition on Mental Health, as it relates to engagement with NatComs). This includes supporting the development of Theories of Change (ToCs), facilitating knowledge exchange and learning platforms, and advising the integration of mental health priorities into NatComs’ strategic and joint partnership plans. The consultant will also support NatComs in the development and delivery of their mental health work across their Child Rights Schools, and Child Friendly Cities (CFCI) programmes, as well as provide guidance on how to meaningfully and safely engage children in the topic of MHPSS.

Ultimately, this consultancy ensures that UNICEF’s global MHPSS portfolio operates as a coherent and mutually reinforcing system, building stronger mental health foundations for children, caregivers, and communities worldwide.

Scope of Work:

Background:

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy, and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and 

excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop, and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) is an institutional priority for the UN, and for UNICEF. The UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026-2029 identifies MHPSS as a priority area for children, caregivers and parents and young people, building upon existing programming through child protection, education and health with a focus on addressing inequities related to gender, and disabilities.

UNICEF’s National Committees (NatComs) are an integral part of UNICEF’s global organization and a unique feature. UNICEF is funded exclusively by voluntary contributions, and the National Committees collectively raise around one-third of UNICEF's annual income. This comes through contributions from corporations, civil society organizations and more than 6 million individual donors worldwide. They also advocate and promote children’s rights; working with various different partners – including the media, national and local government officials, NGOs, specialists such as doctors and lawyers, corporations, schools, young people and the general public – on children’s rights. Currently there are 32 National Committees in the world, each established as an independent local non-governmental organization.  National Committees are mandated to raise funds for UNICEF and to conduct advocacy in order to universally promote children’s rights. In the Cooperation Agreement signed between UNICEF and National Committees, advocacy is defined as “a range of activities aimed at influencing specific policies, practices, programmes, legislative frameworks, or resource allocations by different stakeholders, in particular governments, to advance the fulfilment of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, globally and domestically”.

The consultant’s contributions will reinforce NatCom advocacy to advance policy influence and systems change in high-income settings. Moreover, it will enhance horizontal learning and knowledge exchange across NatComs. These efforts will strengthen UNICEF’s organizational capacity to lead, convene, and accelerate progress toward global commitments on mental health and psychosocial well-being, ensuring that all children grow up in environments that nurture their resilience, dignity, and full potential.

The majority of NatComs (approximately 21 NatComs) continue to work and prioritise mental health either as a standalone issue or mainstreamed with other areas of work such as online protection, parenting, breastfeeding and/or children on the move.

The Mental Health Technical Assistance Consultant will advance the global mental health function by providing distributed technical capacity and leadership through UNICEF’s satellite office locations across four time zones. Through the effective and efficient provision of high-quality technical assistance and programmatic support, the Mental Health Technical Assistance Consultant will play a central role in strengthening national, regional, and multisectoral MHPSS systems across high-income contexts, including for National Committees (NatComs).

This role is critical to advancing UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029, which recognizes mental health and psychosocial well-being as essential to child survival, development, learning, protection, and participation.

Provision of Technical and Strategic Support

• Deliver on-demand, high-quality MHPSS technical support to National Committees (NatComs), ensuring alignment with the Programme Guidance for High-Income Countries (PHICs).
• Ensure integration of MHPSS across NatCom platform initiatives such as the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) and Child Rights Schools (CRS).
• Serve as a functional bridge between global normative guidance and in-country implementation, supporting the contextual adaptation of technical tools, models, and standards in line with UNICEF’s Multisectoral MHPSS Operational Framework.
• Provide technical assistance and support for the Mental Health in High-Income Countries Toolkit (Field Test Version), supporting NatComs in its rollout, testing, and refinement, and ensuring that lessons learned inform future global guidance.
• Provide technical assistance and guidance on emerging issues of importance such as breastfeeding, online protection and children on the move.
• Provide technical support to NatCom countries, including in developing country level research, workplans, advocacy strategies and M&E frameworks, with special focus on identified promising and priority actions.
• Support the National Committees to develop quality rights-based mental health advocacy and programmes (CFCI and CRS) through participation in the formulation advocacy and programme goals, strategies and approaches, collaborating with key partners to address the multiple aspects of the protective environment; and to bring coherence, synergy and added value to sectoral or inter-sectoral management processes using a results-based management approach to planning and design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Based on the internal and external analysis, support the NatComs in developing the vision (and refreshed problem statements) for how they can support the acceleration of MHPSS outcomes at UNICEF, identifying UNICEF’s value add to the global ecosystem in High Income Countries.
• Providing technical and strategic guidance in the development of ToC and RFs and partnership with the private sector.
• Provide strategic and operational support for the Rituals partnership, ensuring effective coordination with the Dutch National Committee.

  Cross-Sectoral Coordination and Strategic Alignment

• Facilitate multisectoral coordination and joint programming, connecting actors across UNICEF’s regional and national structures to enable coherent, whole-of-child mental health responses.
• Support the integration of MHPSS into sectoral and intersectoral strategies, workplans, budgets, and results frameworks, ensuring alignment with global priorities and output-level accountabilities in UNICEF’s Strategic Plan.
• Strengthen and support coordination and collaboration with the Global Coalition on Youth Mental Health.
• Ensure JSP alignment through strategic discussions and input.
• Ensure PHICS alignment throughout the assignment duration through bilateral discussions with NatComs and provide technical support and guidance in coordination with PFP

Knowledge Generation, Partnerships, and Learning

• Document and disseminate innovations, promising practices, and country-level adaptations of multisectoral MHPSS approaches across humanitarian and HIC contexts, fostering continuous learning and regional exchange.
• Facilitate knowledge management across NatComs, including monthly/bimonthly meetings and monthly bilateral exchanges with Natcoms to exchange best practices on programmes (CFCI, CRS), SBC, evidence generation, PME, legal reform, and policy development for mental health.
• Convene capacity-building sessions and learning events on key thematic areas of focus or strategy development for NatComs and Country Offices, including technical consultations, webinars, and expert dialogues on MHPSS advocacy, systems strengthening, and multisectoral approaches

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline

1.  Provision of strategic and technical support to NatComs

• Quarterly meetings with each NatCom (21 NatComs, once per quarter, 84 total pet year)
• Monthly meetings with NatComs (Target: 10-12 meetings per year)
• Participate in the annual Joint Strategic Programme (JSP) Review meetings for each NatCom: 15-21 es or summaries developed following each request, documenting scope, approach, and outcomes 

31 Dec 2026

• Two capacity-building sessions delivered on multisectoral MHPSS integration to NatComs
• At least three NatComs sectoral Theories of Change or platform initiatives include MHPSS

01 Jun 2026

2. Support the evidence generation of qualitative and quantitative learning across all participating country offices, who launch UNICEF’s On My Mind podcast (i.e. 2025 )

• Toolkit field test implemented across 3–5 NatComs
• Consolidated feedback and lessons learned documented and presented in a field testing report
• Recommendations incorporated into the next draft of the Toolkit for global use

01 Aug 2026

3.  Cross-sectoral coordination and strategic alignment

• Four multisectoral coordination meetings convened on MHPSS in HICs
• At least two joint programming briefs or concept notes developed to promote multisectoral approach
• One internal guidance note produced on aligning MHPSS indicators with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan
• Monthly coordination meetings with ECARO on the DG Sante Technical Support Instruments (TSIs) in NatCom countries

01 May 2026

4. Knowledge generation, partnerships, and learning

• One NatCom compendium or knowledge brief on promising MHPSS practices from 2023 to present day (HIC) developed
• Summary of each Natcom’s work (including background, achievements, challenges/risks, opportunities, ToC and plans)
• 12 Monthly inputs on best practices to the Child Rights Newsletter and Global MHPSS Newsletter.
• Monthly or bimonthly knowledge exchange meetings convened among NatComs
• Two virtual learning or capacity-building events organized on MHPSS systems strengthening and advocacy Partnership engagement plan developed, mapping key networks and collaboration opportunities
• Partnership engagement plan developed, mapping key networks and collaboration opportunities

31 Dec 2026

Qualifications

Education: Master’s, PhD and/or MD in Psychology, Social Work, Psychiatry, International Development, Global Health

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *: 

• Minimum eight years (or more) experience in the field of mental health and psychosocial support.
• Programme, project development and management in the UN/UNICEF is an asset.
• Experience in HICs and advocacy is required.
• Experience with UNICEF’s National Committees would be an asset.

Technical skills: 

1. Proven ability to manage complex processes and partnerships across sectors and organizations.
2. Strong public speaking, communication, and advocacy skills.
3. Excellent writing skills with the ability to tailor messaging for technical, policy, and managerial audiences.
4. Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust and maintain effective working relationships.
5. Ability to work flexibly and manage stress in high-pressure settings.
6. Familiarity with UNICEF’s COE model and cross-time-zone coordination processes is desirable.