Social & Behavior Change Specialist

The selected candidate will support Social and Behavior Change (SBC) emergency preparedness and response across UNICEF’s twenty-one Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries and respective programmatic areas. The selected candidate will contribute to positive collective action and informed demand among affected communities for emergency assistance, supplies and services through communication and engagement, as well as the empowerment and participation of stakeholders, communities, children, civil society partners, and government counterparts that eventually will promote measurable SBC. All of these will contribute to protecting and promoting the well-being and supporting resilience of children, women and their families when emergencies strike.

Under the supervision of the SBC Specialist (Emergencies) (P4) and in close coordination with section staff and others involved in emergency preparedness and response, this position will support the SBC section with the follow up of various actions related to country office support, financial monitoring, fundraising and capacity building, ensuring effectiveness and delivery of results in accordance with UNICEF’s Core Commitment for Children in Emergencies (CCCs) and international humanitarian standards.

Main Activities :

SBC Technical and Operational Support for emergency preparedness and response : 

• Providing technical support to UNICEF staff, government and humanitarian national and sub-national counterparts in the development and appropriate use of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) guidelines and tools and guides.
• Collaborating/consulting with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to contribute to and ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of RCCE activities within UNICEF emergency programme priorities as well as government emergency preparedness and response strategy, work planning and contingency planning processes.
• Reviewing/providing inputs into Early Warning, Early Action Systems, the Emergency Preparedness Platform and other UNICEF emergency preparedness and response mechanisms.
• Conducting and/or participating in comprehensive SBC situation analyses of social, cultural, economic and political issues in the region/relevant countries and assisting in the synthesis of behavioral data and evidence that informs the design of comprehensive and evidence based RCCE interventions in UNICEF emergency programming.
• Participating in budget planning and management of programme funds and prepare financial plan for RCCE initiatives, including through the Humanitarian Action for children (HAC).
• Monitor/track the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organizational guidelines, rules and regulations and standards of ethics and transparency.
• Support the follow up and tracking of financial needs and allocations for countries including compilation and analysis of regular financial views from the respective funding grants.
• Supporting resource mobilisation activities by drafting RCCE components of funding appeals, donor reports and proposals related to emergencies and monitoring the status of RCCE-related emergency funds.
• Support the preparation of fund-raising proposals, identifying, and following up on country specific resource mobilization needs.
• Share regular heads-up with in-country SBC focal points on upcoming grants and financial support to ensure that SBC needs are included.
• Prepare materials and documentation for fundraising meetings.

Capacity building of UNICEF staff and partners on SBC in emergencies : 

• Organize/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders/partners (government and non-government) in RCCE planning, implementation and evaluation in support of programmes/projects including in humanitarian settings.
• Develop tools, guidelines and training materials and activities to build capacity on RCCE for personnel who are involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of SBC and RCCE interventions, in support of programme sustainability.
• Facilitate capacity building of UNICEF staff and partners on RCCE interventions in emergency preparedness, response and recovery
• RCCE coordination and implementation in emergency/humanitarian settings, including public health emergencies
• Collaborate with, advise and/or consult internal and external partners to design RCCE strategies, including formulation, production and testing materials to organise SBC interventions to ensure engagement and participation of key audiences, and maximum outreach and impact on SBC, including in humanitarian response.
• Guide the development of quality and appropriate RCCE communication materials, pre-testing and production of culturally relevant messages and materials for key programmatic areas.
• Confirm/verify the technical quality, consistency and relevance of RCCE strategies, including materials that are developed, produced and disseminated to target audiences (e.g. individuals, communities, government officials, partners, media etc).
• Identify, establish and maintain active interaction/relations with media, academia and other strategic partners to communicate/advocate UNICEF’s competencies and achievements to ensure their engagement, interests and support in promoting social engagement for political action on children’s rights, and measurable changes in social and behavioral outcomes.
• Support the solicitation of content, preparation of presentation slide decks and documentation of minutes of the monthly regional catch up calls with countries

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of social and behavior change interventions in emergency contexts : 

• Conduct and/or participate in monitoring exercises, including country programme previews, meetings and mid-term/annual reviews to assess/report on efficacy/outcome of RCCE on UNICEF in emergency programming.
• Provide technical support to countries for the establishment of monitoring mechanisms to collect, analyse and report on RCCE indicators and the development of research/M&E terms of reference, investigative tools and research protocols that can be used to set an evidence base for social and behavior change.
• Assist in strengthening country office and field office capacity to research, analyse and equitably address the trends and dynamics of the key issues related to socio-cultural and behavior dynamics in humanitarian context.
• Assist in monitoring the implementation of key RCCE interventions before, during and after emergencies and then disseminating communication research findings and provide feedback, facilitating knowledge exchanges, on experiences encountered and new methods/innovations to UNICEF programme staff, partners and the broader humanitarian community

Advocacy, networking, and partnership building : 

• Identify, establish, and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with strategic partners, including UN agencies, (I)NGO’s, Faith based groups, academia, social networks, influencers, and other relevant organizations and coordinate their involvement in emergency SBC preparedness and response and RCCE work.
• Collaborate with internal global/regional communication partners to harmonize, link and/or coordinate messaging and use of multiple media and communication platforms to enhance RCCE outreach. Participate in organizational and/or inter-agency (e.g. UN Emergency Clusters) discussions and planning to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues in the planning and preparation for humanitarian situations, including disease outbreaks prevention and control.

Innovation and knowledge management : 

• Implement innovative practices, approaches and latest technology on multiple media and social/digital platforms and networks for RCCE that are appropriate/available for the CO context and audience.
• Institutionalize/share best practices and knowledge learned/products with global/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners and disseminate these products to key audiences including donors and partners.
• Provide technical assistance and quality assurance to ESAR country offices on RCCE reporting on the various monitoring and reporting platforms at regional and global level.
• Document progress achieved in RCCE preparedness and response from a programming and operational perspective.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have : 

• An advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in one of the following fields: social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, education or another relevant technical field
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience of progressively responsible experience (including at least three years in the field to support SBC/RCCE preparedness and emergency response) at the national and international levels in one or more of the following areas is required: social development programme planning, Social & Behavior Change, public advocacy or another related area, with a focus on emergency
• Strong technical knowledge and previous experience in development and implementation of RCCE approaches.
• Proven skills in communication, data-driven communication planning and monitoring of social and behavior change processes and results.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset. Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• A basic understanding of UNICEF’s core commitments to children in humanitarian action, humanitarian principles, standards, coordination mechanisms, gender and diversity aspects of humanitarian work.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/559982