Trainer on Psychological First Aid (PFA), Survivor-Centred and Trauma-Informed Approaches, and Safe Referral Procedures

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 project aims to strengthen Psychological First Aid (PFA) as a first-line protection tool, Survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches, Confidentiality, safeguarding, and do-no-harm principles, Safe and ethical referral activation procedures in Baghdeda (also known as Hamdaniyya) by building the capacity of trusted local actors to identify and respond safely to MHPSS concerns, provide first-line psychosocial support, and activate ethical referral pathways for individuals at risk. The intervention seeks to move the community away from fragmented and informal coping mechanisms toward safer, more structured, stigma-free, and community-owned MHPSS responses that improve wellbeing, resilience, perceived safety, and social cohesion among trauma-affected Christian populations.     

More specifically, the project seeks to:

• establish functional community-led protection mechanisms;
• capacitate Community Protection Focal Points from within the community;
• improve safe disclosure and early response to distress and protection concerns;
• strengthen community-based psychosocial support and help-seeking behaviour; and
• ensure that protection risks are responded to through survivor-centred, confidential, and dignified referral pathways.

Project Assignment

The assignment includes reviewing the project approach, developing a context-appropriate training package, facilitating the 3-day in-person training, and equipping participants with practical knowledge and skills to provide immediate emotional stabilisation, communicate safely with distressed individuals, maintain confidentiality, understand their role boundaries, and activate referrals to specialised services when needed. The training should be practical, participatory, culturally sensitive, and aligned with the wider community-led protection and psychosocial support model of the project.

Terms of Refrence

The trainer will be responsible for planning, preparing, and facilitating a structured 3-day capacity-building programme for prospective Community Protection Focal Points. The trainer will ensure that participants gain foundational applied knowledge and practical skills relevant to providing first-line psychosocial and protection support within a community-based framework.

The trainer shall:

• reviewing the relevant project documentation and activity design;
• preparing a detailed training agenda and session plans;
• developing culturally and contextually appropriate training materials and practical exercises;
• delivering a 3-day training using adult-learning and participatory methodologies;
• ensuring that all content is aligned with trauma-informed, survivor-centred, and ethical MHPSS principles;
• integrating scenario-based practice on safe listening, emotional stabilisation, confidentiality, safeguarding, consent, and referrals;
• administering learning checks or pre/post assessments, where required by SPF; and
• submitting a concise final report on training implementation, participant engagement, and recommendations.

The training should prepare participants to operate within a community-led model where focal points may later receive concerns, support safe disclosure, provide first-line assistance, conduct basic screening, refer cases, and support awareness efforts under technical supervision and on-the-job coaching.   

Key Responsibilities

• Review the project proposal and understand the role of Community Protection Focal Points within the intervention.
• Develop a detailed 3-day training agenda and methodology.
• Prepare a complete training package, including presentations, facilitator notes, handouts, and practical exercises.
• Deliver training on:
  • Psychological First Aid (PFA) as a first-line protection tool;
  • survivor-centred approaches;
  • trauma-informed approaches;
  • confidentiality and informed consent;
  • safeguarding and ethical conduct;
  • do-no-harm principles;
  • safe and ethical referral activation procedures.
• Use role plays, case studies, and practical exercises to help participants apply learning in realistic community settings.
• Ensure participants understand the scope and limits of their role and when to refer cases.
• Emphasise safe, dignified, and non-stigmatising engagement with distressed individuals.
• Coordinate with SPF’s programme and technical team before and after the training.
• Submit a final report with recommendations for further coaching and capacity strengthening.

Deliverables

1. Inception / coordination meeting with SPF.
2. Detailed 3-day training agenda and session plan.
3. Full training package, including:
   • PowerPoint presentations;
   • facilitator guide / session notes;
   • participant handouts;
   • practical scenarios, role plays, and case studies;
   • pre- and post-test tools, as requested.
4. Delivery of 3 full training days for selected participants.
5. Training documentation support, including attendance records and brief session notes where needed.
6. Final training report summarising:
   • sessions delivered;
   • number and profile of participants;
   • key learning outcomes;
   • challenges and observations;
   • recommendations for follow-up mentoring and coaching.

Required Qualifications

• University degree in psychology, counselling, social work, public health, protection, human rights, sociology, or another relevant field.
• Proven experience delivering trainings on Psychological First Aid, psychosocial support, trauma-informed practice, protection, safeguarding, or related topics.
• Demonstrated understanding of survivor-centred approaches, confidentiality, do-no-harm, and ethical referral practices.
• Practical experience working with trauma-affected, vulnerable, or conflict-affected communities.
• Strong understanding of how first-line psychosocial support links to protection and referral pathways.
• Experience developing training materials and facilitating participatory learning processes.
• Fluency in Arabic is required and Assyrian (also known as Syriac and Chaldean) is an added advantage.
• Familiarity with Nineveh context, faith-linked actors, and Christian communities in Baghdeda (also known as Hamdaniyya/Qaraqosh is highly desirable. The proposal also indicates that focal points may include women and youth with relevant educational grounding, so the trainer should be able to work effectively with such participant profiles.

Preferred Skills

• Excellent facilitation and communication skills.
• Ability to explain sensitive psychosocial and protection concepts in clear, practical language.
• Strong skills in scenario-based and experiential learning.
• Ability to handle sensitive discussions with professionalism and cultural sensitivity.
• Experience working in community-based protection or MHPSS programming.
• Experience engaging women leaders, youth mentors, and faith-linked actors.
• Strong interpersonal and mentoring skills.
• Good reporting and documentation skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with programme and technical teams.
• Sensitivity to faith-based, culturally grounded, and stigma-aware approaches to help-seeking and community protection.

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 "Trainer MHPSS – Baghdeda" in the subject line of your email. Please note applications without cover letters will not be considered and female candidates are highly encouraged to apply. Furthermore, please note this position is subject to signing the contract with the donor.

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