Tenders are invited for Consultancy for the Contextualization of SMSPS Methodologies and the Development of an Smsps Toolbox in Mauritania. Closing Date: 30 Sep 2025 Type: Consultancy Context Presentation of Terre des hommes - Lausanne Terre des hommes Lausanne is an independent, neutral and impartial Swiss organisation, founded in 1960, dedicated to bringing about meaningful and lasting change in the lives of children and young people, especially those most at risk1. We ensure their well-being and the effective implementation of their rights as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments. To make a difference, we focus our efforts on maternal and child health, children and young people in migration, and access to justice. Tdh-L works in 32 different countries around the world, in humanitarian and development contexts. In its interventions, Tdh-L promotes a human rights-based approach, as well as a general improvement in quality and accountability by ensuring meaningful access to services for all, in safety and dignity. Tdh-L has adopted the Core Humanitarian Standard as a quality and accountability framework, which is fully integrated with widely recognised industry standards, including the Sphere Manual, the Minimum Standards for the Protection of Children in Humanitarian Action and the IASC Principles of Accountability to Affected Populations. Tdh-Ls intervention is based on the following principles: Act in the best interests of the child; Promote the participation and empowerment of children, young people, their families and communities; Working in partnership to strengthen local capacities, dynamics and systems; Acting for the humanitarian interest, development and peace; Promote continuous improvement, collaboration and learning; Be transparent and accountable to beneficiaries, partners, donors and ourselves. Tdh-L has been present in Mauritania since 1984, and intervenes in three main areas: Access to justice for children and youth in contact with the law. Supporting migrant and refugee children and young people to improve their living conditions. Strengthening child protection systems. As such, Tdh-L enjoys broad recognition and credibility with the state authorities (Ministry of Social Action for Children and the Family, Ministry of Justice, Directorate for the Judicial Protection of Children,...) and also with donors, in particular the European Union, the French Development Agency (AFD), UNICEF, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development, the Monegasque Cooperation, and the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID). Tdh-L intervenes in nine regions of Mauritania, including Hodh El Charghi, through support to the Ministry of Justice for the application of justice for all and the coordination of customary and formal justice, thanks to funding from AFD for the period 2022-2026. Justification Since 2012, the crisis in Mali has led to a massive and prolonged influx of Malian refugees into Mauritania, mainly in the Hodh El Charghi (HEC) region, located on the countrys southeastern border. This region, already marked by structural poverty, high climate vulnerability and limited access to basic social services, is under increasing pressure on its resources due to the long-term settlement of these displaced populations. The mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) needs of refugees, but also of host and returnee communities, are particularly important. They are the result of multiple factors: pre-existing fragilities, violence suffered, loss and bereavement during displacement, integration difficulties, prolonged precariousness, exposure to traumatic events. These experiences have a significant impact on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals and communities. Until the end of 2024, there is a marked contrast between the scale of MHPSS needs and the weakness of the services available to meet them. The context remains characterized by major challenges at several levels: Politically, Mauritania has a national mental health strategy, but it is now obsolete. It is no longer adapted to current challenges and suffers from a lack of implementation, integration into public policies and budgetary prioritization. At the institutional level, specialized services are very limited: there are only eight psychiatrists active throughout the country (including two military personnel), all based in Nouakchott. The HEC region has no psychiatrist or psychologist, and health facilities are not equipped with the essential psychotropic drugs recommended by the WHO. With the exception of a few active NGOs, state structures do not offer minimum mental health services. At the community level, poverty, insecurity, forced displacement and the lack of formal services hamper peoples well-being. Traditional structures play a role of first resort but are often poorly trained or poorly equipped. The stigma of mental disorders remains high, limiting the use of specialized care. On an individual level, those affected face multiple stressors: insecurity, loss of livelihoods, family breakdown, traumatic experiences. Without accessible services and early detection devices, many people in distress with or without a diagnosed mental disorder do not receive appropriate support. Faced with these observations, the year 2025 marks a turning point in the MHPSS response in the HEC. Two important dynamics are being put in place: Strengthening sectoral coordination: At the national level, a coordination group has been created under the aegis of the National Mental Health Programme (PNSM) in order to better articulate the actions of the actors, to ensure concerted planning and to strengthen the alignment between the national strategy and the regional implementations. At the regional level, an MHSPS Technical Working Group (TWG) has been set up in HEC at the initiative of WHO and Terre des hommes, in order to ensure technical harmonization, sharing of good practices and better coverage of identified needs. Deployment of new mental health initiatives: New projects, led by Terre des hommes (in particular the Al Afiya and Tawafoug projects), aim to improve the access, quality and sustainability of multi-layered MHPSS services. Médecins Sans Frontières-France (MSF-F) has launched a targeted response to the Bassikounou moughataa, including a mapping of interventions. WHO continues to play a central role in sectoral coordination, in line with its mandate as the lead agency for mental health under the Permanent Inter-Agency Group (IASC). This dynamic represents a strategic opportunity to structure an integrated, adapted and sustainable response to the mental health and psychosocial support needs of affected populations in HEC. Purpose of consultancy This consultancy aims to strengthen the quality, relevance and sustainability of the mental health and psychosocial support response in the Hodh El Chargui region, in support of the national and regional dynamics undertaken. It is part of a process of contextualization of approaches, harmonization of tools and capacity building of actors involved in the field. In order to respond specifically to the various needs identified, the consultancy is structured in three complementary lots. Consultants can submit a bid for one or more lots, depending on their specific expertise and implementation capacity. Close coordination between the different lots will be encouraged to ensure the overall consistency of the deliverables. Lot 1 Adaptation of psychosocial protocols (EASE & PM+) to the socio-cultural realities of Hodh El Chargui This batch aims to analyze and adapt existing approaches, such as Problem Management Plus [PM+] and Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions [EASE], to ensure their acceptability, understanding, and effectiveness. This adaptation will have to be co-constructed with local authorities, technical stakeholders and especially the communities concerned. Particular attention should be paid to the recognition of local signs of suffering and to culturally accepted modalities of psychosocial support. Lot 2 Contribution to the development of a contextualised toolkit on mental health and psychosocial support This package provides for the design of practical, harmonized and contextualized tools that will be integrated into the MHPSS toolbox for field actors: health workers, social workers, community workers and institutional partners. This toolkit will aim to provide concrete and tailored resources to support the implementation of quality psychosocial interventions, in line with the specific realities of Hodh El Chargui. The tools developed must be accessible, operational and aligned with international standards, while being enriched by local socio-cultural specificities: social representations of mental health, community dynamics and relational practices specific to the different groups present in the region. Lot 3 Strengthening the capacity of front-line providers to manage mental disorders through the mhGAP The aim of this package is to strengthen the capacities of front-line health workers (general practitioners, nurses, community workers), in a context where the Hodh El Chargui region has neither psychiatrists nor psychologists in its health structures. The aim is to train them in the use of the mhGAP, a tool developed by the World Health Organization to improve access to mental health care in areas with low specialized resources. The training will enable frontline providers to provide basic care for mental, neurological or substance-related disorders, in accordance with international standards and adapted to the local context. The missions will include the adaptation of the training document, planning, facilitation of training and post-training support, in close collaboration with the regional Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4174860/consultance-pour-la-contextualisation-de-methodologies-smsps-et-lelaboration-dune-boite-outils-en-smsps-en-mauritanie
