1. INTRODUCTION
Save the Children has been working in Bangladesh since 1970, partnering with the Government of Bangladesh, local NGOs, and communities to ensure every child survives, learns, and is protected. Our programs address a wide range of issues, including child protection, education, health and nutrition, humanitarian response, and climate change adaptation.

2. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
Due to high-level political commitment and an early response to HIV, Bangladesh has been successful in keeping the HIV prevalence low among the general population (<0.01%). HIV prevalence has gone down among Key Populations (KPs), particularly People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), but it is still above the concentrated level of the epidemic (>5%) in two HIV prone zones: Dhaka and Narayanganj. The latest Integrated Biological and Behavioural Surveillance (IBBS 2020) reveals that HIV prevalence has increased in some other KP groups including MSM. (ASP, 2020). KP interventions started in Bangladesh in the mid-nineties and are continuing without major funding gaps with the efforts from the Government of Bangladesh, the Global Fund, other development partners and the private sector including the national and international NGOs. However, HIV risk behaviours and the prevalence of HIV among some KP groups indicate that there are still many challenges, which are fuelling the HIV epidemic with the need to scale up our collective efforts with innovations and sustainability to address these challenges and barriers.

Along with government health sector program funding for HIV, the Global Fund has been providing funds since 2004 and directly to HIV KP since 2009. Two major pillars of the HIV program of the Global Fund grant are Health System Strengthening (HSS) and Community System Strengthening (CSS). Through the various activities, Principal Recipients (PR) and their implementing partners are trying to achieve the target so that in the long run there is a sustainable quality HIV prevention program. Another priority area in GC7 is reducing human rights and gender related barriers through advocacy and policy reform.

In the current GC7 grant, the global fund announced 2 million USD in addition for Bangladesh to work for human rights and gender related activities with a new and revised vision to get optimum benefit. The Global Fund commissioned consultants before starting GC7 Grant for conducting an assessment to find out gap areas in human rights and gender areas and accordingly suggests country incorporate proper activities in the GC7 grant. In line with that three PRs, including ASP, icddrb and SCI submitted activities under this component. With close collaboration and coordination among the stakeholders, a national Human Rights Strategy was developed in GC7 where all the activities related to human rights and gender were included under different interventions. This was a strategy for country, not limited to the implementation of the Global Fund projects.

One of the focused areas of the strategy was providing mental health support to the KPs through various initiatives. Mental health-related support for Key Populations (KPs) within HIV programs is closely linked to human rights because mental health challenges among KPs are often rooted in stigma, discrimination, violence, exclusion, and denial of basic rights. Integrating mental health support into HIV interventions helps ensure that KPs can enjoy their fundamental human rights, including the right to health, dignity, equality, and non-discrimination. To ensure this, capacity building of related service providers is utmost important. Therefore, SCI undertook an initiative to develop a training module to build the capacity of relevant service providers, those who are engaged in direct service provision including counselling.

To achieve the target, a national consultant will provide support to development of the module through a consultative process.

3. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this consultancy are -

• To support Save the Children (SCI) in developing a comprehensive training module on mental health issues affecting Key Populations (KPs) within the HIV response.
  
• To ensure a thorough consultative process through active engagement of HIV program implementers, professional bodies of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, national nodal agencies for HIV, and representatives of Key Populations (KPs).

4. SCOPE
The consultant will:

1. Conduct consultations with the National AIDS/STD Programme (NASP), relevant Key Populations (KPs), and implementing agencies to understand their expectations from the training module and identify existing gaps in mental health services within the HIV prevention program in Bangladesh.
2. Arrange discussions, interviews, and/or meetings with clinical psychologists and psychiatrists to identify the most relevant mental health issues affecting KPs and incorporate approaches that address both mental health and human rights concerns.
3. Develop a draft training module on mental health for KPs by utilizing local and international evidence, programmatic experiences, and identified needs.
4. Finalize the draft training module through a validation and consultation session with relevant stakeholders, including government representatives, technical experts, implementing agencies, and KP representatives.

5. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
The consultant will be responsible for:

1. Inception Report.
2. First consultation with NASC, KPS, HIV Program Implementers etc. and submit report to SCI.
3. Second Consultation with expert group (Psychologist and Psychiatrist etc.) and submit report to SCI.
4. Draft module
5. Dissemination session of draft module with relevant stakeholders to share and finalize the module
6. Submission of final module with assignment completion report.

6. TIMELINE
The consultancy will run from July 1, 2026 to September 15th, 2026.

7. CONSULTANT PROFILE
Individual with:

• Masters in any discipline preferably with advanced degree in Psychology/Clinical Psychology.
• Experienced in development of training modules/guidelines/SOPs particularly for the Key Populations (KPs) of HIV.
• Ability to work in a team of multi-stakeholders including government agencies, national and international organizations, KP communities etc.
• Well-versed knowledge and practical experience in working with the issue of mental health.
• The consultant must be willing to comply with Save the Children's Child Safeguarding and other policies related to this assignment.

8. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Interested individual consultants are requested to submit the following documents in the email address mentioned:

• A Technical Proposal including
  
1. Brief understanding of the task.
   
2. Descriptions in brief on the experiences of carrying out high-quality and credible completion of relevant tasks (proof required).
   
3. Brief on the methodologies for task completion.
   
4. Tentative schedule for completing the task.
   
5. Work references - contact details (e-mail addresses) of 2 referees (organizations by whom you were contracted for similar assignments).
   
6. CV and a Cover Letter.
   
7. NID copy, TIN Certificate, BIN Certificate and Acknowledgement copy of Income Tax Return for the most recent year.
   
• A Financial Proposal including -
  
1. Detail breakdown of costs and consultancy fees (tax and VAT will be deducted as per government rules)
2. Email: shuvo.sarker@savethechildren.org
3. Please only mention "National Consultant for development of training modules" in the subject
   line of the email.

Application closing date: June 15, 2026.