Art-Therapy Facilitator

Description

Sustainable Peace Foundation (SPF) is an Iraqi feminist Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) striving to build and sustain peace through vertical and horizontal approaches and participatory methods; addressing root causes of tensions and conflicts challenging positive peace in Iraq. SPF strives to achieve this by working on the grassroots level to reinstate and strengthen the lost trust between Iraq’s diverse ethno-religious communities; increase community resilience, empower and building the capacities of the very effected communities so they can mitigate and transform conflicts through dialogue and non-violent means.

SPF strives to achieve these objectives by working with vulnerable groups such as, youth, women and girls, people with special needs and IDPs through developing their capacities to take leadership roles and to actively participate in the peace and reconciliation processes; economically empower communities by offering them vocational trainings and providing them with livelihood means to ensure stability and a dignified living standard.

SPF also strives to engage local authority and security actors with the local communities through advocacy, round table dialogue sessions and developing local peace mechanisms and structures capable to acts as soundboards conveying their communities’ needs and challenges. Another pillar of SPF’s efforts is to support and capacitate Iraq’s civil society for example, SPF provide the technical coordination and the secretariat of Nineveh Peace Forum, which it is a founder.

SPF also provides consultations for local and international NGOs on peacebuilding and social cohesion programming, such as: context analysis, needs assessments, actor and service mapping etc.

SPF’s focuses on minority protection, but through its Do-no-Harm approach, which ensures that SPF programming and implementation creates cohesion instead of doing harm.

Project Aims

The Art-Therapy Facilitators will lead the direct field implementation of the “Colours of Healing: Trauma-Informed Art Therapy for Women and Girls at Al-Amal Rehabilitation Centre, Nineveh” project, implemented by the Sustainable Peace Foundation through the funding of UN Women - Iraq. The project aims to enhance the resilience, healing, and dignity of women and girls at Al-Amal Rehabilitation Centre through a gender-responsive and trauma-informed art therapy intervention. It seeks to respond to the immediate emotional and psychosocial needs of women and girls returning from Al-Hol by providing safe, non-stigmatising spaces for emotional expression, stress relief, and adaptive coping.

Terms of Reference

• Deliver structured, age-appropriate, and trauma-informed art therapy and psychosocial support sessions targeting women and girls directly.
• Facilitate group reflection, peer support, and collective creative activities to strengthen trust, solidarity, dignity, and shared resilience among participants.
• Ensure the maintenance of safe, confidential, and gender-responsive spaces throughout the implementation of project activities.
• Continuously monitor participants to safely identify women and girls facing heightened psychosocial or protection risks, ensuring they receive specialized support.

Scope of Work

The Art-Therapy Facilitators will be responsible for executing the following activities during the project period:

• Implement a comprehensive series of art therapy sessions designed to support targeted women and girls throughout the designated project implementation phase.
• Organize and facilitate regular group reflection and peer-support sessions to help build emotional and social support networks among beneficiaries.
• Establish and apply safe, confidential procedures for individual follow-up with participants who show signs of psychosocial distress or protection risks during group sessions.
• Actively participate in periodic case review and coordination meetings with authorized actors and service providers to ensure appropriate support and activate referral pathways.

Deliverables

• Successful and safe implementation of the art therapy and peer support program according to the approved methodology.
• Regular submission of periodic session reports, and attendance sheets.
• Completion of safe and confidential referrals for cases requiring specialized protection or MHPSS support through the project’s approved pathways.

Required Qualifications

• This position is restricted to female candidates only (in accordance with project requirements to ensure gender-sensitive support and maintain safe spaces for beneficiaries).
• Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, Art Therapy, Counseling, or a related field.
• Previous experience in facilitating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) or art therapy sessions, preferably in displacement or emergency contexts.

Preferred Skills and Competencies

• Deep and comprehensive understanding of trauma-informed care and survivor-centred principles.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to build trust with women and girls who have experienced complex trauma.
• Ability to handle sensitive disclosures safely and ethically, with strict adherence to "do no harm" principles and strict confidentiality.

Familiarity with the specific context of women and girls returning from Al-Hol and the current challenges at Al-Amal Rehabilitation Centre.

How to apply

Interested candidates should submit their CV and a cover letter outlining their relevant experience and motivation for the role to hr@sustainablepeacefoundation.org. Please include "Art-Therapy Facilitators - Nineveh" in the subject line of your email. Please note applications without cover letters will not be considered.

For more information about the Sustainable Peace Foundation visit our website at www.sustainablepeacefoundation.org.