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Through the Mental Health support activities for children that MSF conducts in Al Mawasi clinic, in Gaza, children learn a new language to communicate, without aggression or hitting.
These activities work on five topics: identity, protection, friendship, bodily ownership and emotions. 
The aim is also to provide a space for children to play safely. As MSF psychologist Mahmoud ElBebesi explains: “It's through play that we get over the trauma, the pain, how to manage some emotions that are coming and are not easy to deal with.”
We focus on five key topics in our mental health support activities for children: identity, protection, friendship, bodily autonomy, and emotions. Palestine, March 2024.
© Mariam Abu Dagga/MSF
Jobs in the Field

Mental Health Activity Manager

We focus on five key topics in our mental health support activities for children: identity, protection, friendship, bodily autonomy, and emotions. Palestine, March 2024.
© Mariam Abu Dagga/MSF
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Mental Health Activity Managers are essential in coordinating and overseeing mental health initiatives in our projects.

Mental health activity managers strategise, plan, and implement protocols to provide vital support to patients in challenging environments. With their background in psychology or related fields, along with essential experience and competencies, they play a crucial role in ensuring the quality of care and treatment for those in need, contributing directly to MSF's humanitarian efforts.

This is an exciting and diverse role involving some or all of the following:

Responsibilities:

  • Define, coordinate, and monitor all mental health-related activities in the project area.
  • Identify the needs of mental health support in the target population and participate in strategising and planning MSF's mental health activities.
  • Develop technical materials and coordinate the implementation of mental health protocols and procedures.
  • Plan and supervise staff processes including recruitment, training, evaluation, and internal communication.
  • Coordinate and ensure regular follow-up of mental health activities with clients, maintaining neutrality and ensuring proper behaviour during sessions.
  • Map and update existing mental health services and collaborate with other project components.
  • Participate in counselling and prevention activities when needed and report on monthly statistics and problematic situations to aid decision-making.
  • Ensure proper treatment for psychiatric patients either within MSF programmes or through referral.

    Depending on our activities and needs, your responsibilities may be adapted and evolve according to  specific projects.

    You will not be facing these challenges alone—other MSF team members, both international and locally hired staff, will provide technical support, including extensive guidelines and protocols.

An MSF psychologist and an MSF intercultural mediator discuss an upcoming mental health session in a room at the MSF Day Care Center in Athens. In MSF's migration projects in Greece, intercultural mediators are responsible for interpreting between psychologists and patients.
An MSF psychologist and an intercultural mediator discuss an upcoming mental health session in a room at the MSF Day Care Center in Athens. Greece, October 2024.
© Hussein Amri/MSF
We provide them a space, regardless of race or gender or sexuality, to be heard and supported. Panos Mylonas, a psychologist and Mental Health activity manager
Mental health

A mental health crisis among refugees and migrants in Greece

Requirements:

  • Degree/master in psychology, social work, or Medical Doctor degree with a specialisation in psychiatry.
  • Minimum of two years of work experience as a psychologist or in a similar profession.
  • Proficiency in the programme language.
  • Essential computer literacy (Word, Excel, and internet).

Assets:

  • Experience working with MSF or other NGOs.
  • Experience in developing countries.
  • Proficiency in the local working language.
  • Competencies in people management, commitment to MSF principles, behavioural flexibility, results and quality orientation, teamwork, and cooperation.
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Mental Health Activity Manager

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Work with MSF

In 2024, 67,000 people worked with Médecins Sans Frontières and contributed to giving lifesaving medical assistance to people who would otherwise be denied access to healthcare, clean water and shelter.

A large majority of MSF staff, about 90 per cent, are locally hired in their country of residence, working for MSF assistance programmes in proximity with the people and communities we support, or in MSF offices around the world.  

About 10 per cent of people working for MSF are internationally mobile staff, specialists or senior managers hired on fixed-term contracts to carry out assignments in countries of intervention.  

MSF doesn’t employ only doctors and nurses. To fulfill our social mission, we recruit employees from a large range of professions in the medical, finance, logistics, IT, administration, human resources, and communications fields, and in other areas.  

If you would like to work with MSF, you will find information about our behaviour commitments, minimum requirements, our recruitment processes and our current international job vacancies.  

To know more about MSF’s remuneration policies, you can also visit msf.org/rewards.

MSF has section offices in 24 countries and 18 MSF branch offices. View the worldwide map of MSF offices.

Our behavioural commitments

The integrity of our organisation is upheld by the good conduct of each individual staff member, in any location, with full respect for the communities we serve.

When you join us, we expect you to commit to our social mission and Charter; helping to deliver medical assistance to populations in distress and to people affected by natural or man-made disasters. 

For us, this means not tolerating any behaviour from our staff that exploits the vulnerability of others, or of employees taking advantage of their position for personal gain. 

We do not tolerate any physical or psychological abuse against individuals, sexual harassment, sexual relations with minors, or any behaviour that does not respect human dignity. 

MSF promotes a working environment free of harassment and abuse. Our leadership has unequivocally committed to fight abuse and to reinforce mechanisms and procedures to prevent and address it. 

Depuis janvier 2014, MSF travaille dans le centre de santé de Mamadou M’Baiki - situé dans le quartier de PK5, à Bangui - où nous offrons des soins de santé primaire aux enfants âgés de moins de 15 ans. Pendant le pic annuel de paludisme, le centre de santé de Mamadou M’Baiki peut recevoir jusqu'à 800 enfants par semaine. En 2014, sur nos différents projets menés dans le quartier de PK5 (centre de santé + dispensaires mobiles à la grande mosquée et à Kpéténé), nous avons dispensé près de 40 000 consultations (29% de cas de paludisme). <br/> 

Since January 2014, MSF has been working in Mamadou M'Baiki health center - located in the PK5 district in Bangui - where we offer primary health care to children under 15. During the annual malaria peak, Mamadou M'Baiki health center can receive up to 800 children a week. In 2014, on our various projects in the PK5 area (health center + mobile clinics at the Grand Mosque and Kpéténé area) we have provided almost 40,000 consultations (29% for malaria cases).
 *** Local Caption *** En RCA, le contexte sanitaire  est catastrophique, les indicateurs particulièrement dégradés : le paludisme (1ère cause de morbidité et mortalité) est endémique, chaque enfant âgé de moins de 5 ans fait en moyenne deux crises par an. La couverture vaccinale est très basse. Le pays possède la plus haute prévalence de VIH-Sida des pays d’Afrique Centrale (entre 5 et 10% suivant les zones). Le système de santé offre un accès aux soins limité et coûteux, les ressources humaines qualifiées manquent, les problèmes d’approvisionnement en médicaments sont récurrents. Dans ce pays à l’Etat fantôme, les opérations menées par MSF se substituent à celles du ministère de la Santé.<br/>

In CAR, health situation is catastrophic, indicators particularly degraded: malaria (first cause of morbidity and mortality) is endemic, every child under 5 years has an average of two attacks per year. Vaccination coverage is very low. The country has the highest prevalence of HIV-AIDS among the countries of Central Africa (between 5 and 10% depending on the area). The health system offers limited and expensive access to care, skilled medical human resources are lacking, drug supply problems are recurrent. In this country without State, MSF operations substitute those of the MOH.
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Who we need in our assistance programmes

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We rely on a strong network of professionals to deliver lifesaving medical aid. Discover what it means to work for MSF, including our social mission, Association and behavioural commitments.
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