Social & Behavior Change Specialist – P3  

“In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, over 700,000 children have not had access to vaccination services. This places the country as the third highest in Africa and sixth globally in terms of the number of children who have not received any vaccinations. Various surveys have identified several factors that have contributed to missed vaccination opportunities in different provinces, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, population displacement in certain regions due to the presence of national and foreign armed groups, inter-ethnic conflicts that hinder access to vaccination points, geographic barriers that limit access to vaccination for populations on islands or in remote areas, and the neglect of specific population segments in informal settlements and peri-urban areas of major cities. In line with the national catch-up plan targets, the Democratic Republic of the Congo aims to reach a minimum of 70% of the missed children by the end of 2025. The initial phase of this plan will prioritize children who either did not receive vaccinations or were under-vaccinated during the height of the COVID-19 crisis (from 2019 to 2022).
2024-07-08T11:30:00Z
Programme and Policytendersglobal.netSocial and Behavior Change
572086
 

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

 P3 SBC TA Kinshasa Social Behavioral Change Specialist Level 3_immunization _Health.pdf

For every child, a champion.

Social and behavioral change in UNICEF is a cross-cutting program strategy that addresses the cognitive, social, and structural determinants of social change in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, values, and the socio-cultural norms that shape their lives, engage them, and increase their influence in the design of solutions for sustainable behavior and social change. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around social and behavioral practices like immunization, breastfeeding, hygiene, and positive discipline.  

UNICEF SBC employs a mix of approaches including community engagement, strategic communication, applied behavioral science, service delivery improvement, systems strengthening policy advocacy, and social mobilization to advance child rights, survival, development, protection, and participation.

Visit UNICEF- Democratic Republic of Congo to learn more!

How can you make a difference?

The Social and Behavior Change Specialist reports to the head of section for general guidance and supervision. He will work closely with UNICEF big catch-up coordinator for technical orientation. The Specialist provides technical and operational support for developing a systematic, planned and evidence-based strategy and process for SBC as an integral part of program development, planning and implementation. Through communication and engagement, as well as the empowerment and participation of stakeholders, communities, children, civil society partners, and government counterparts, s/he promotes measurable behavioral and social change/mobilization. This subsequently contributes to the achievement of sustainable and concrete results in improving children’s rights, survival and wellbeing in the country.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

• Generate & Use Evidence: Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC to strengthen immunization services in targeted provinces.  
• Design, plan and implement: Design, plan and implement SBC activities that strengthen the existing immunization system by generating social and behavioral evidence and strong mechanisms for engagement and participation in development and humanitarian contexts.  
• Advocate & Build Partnerships: Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building.  
• Build Capacities Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up SBC in catch-up vaccination zones for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners. 

• Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC to strengthen immunization services in targeted provinces and health zones. 
  • In collaboration with sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, design and conduct SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers; initiate, commission, manage and/or utilize qualitative and quantitative research on social and behavioral drivers that include behavioral analysis, human centered design, social listening, behavioral insights, participatory research and/or RCT.  
  • Establish community feedback mechanisms and use feedback to inform community engagement and SBC actions for the development and implementation of catch-up vaccination interventions more tailored to each target province in the context of disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience.  
  • Develop terms of reference, research tools, frameworks and protocols for generating evidence to inform SBC initiatives in children’s immunization catch-up and apply tools, methodologies and frameworks for data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting and disseminating SBC results. 
  • Conduct and/or participate in country program monitoring and evaluation exercises and make recommendations on workplan revisions based on the results. 
  • Develop and manage relationships with external partners, vendors and consultants for research and evidence generation and support of SBC. 
• Design, plan and implement SBC activities that strengthen the existing immunization system by generating social and behavioral evidence and strong mechanisms for engagement and participation in development and humanitarian contexts. 
  • In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, develop, implement and monitor evidence-based SBC strategies and activities, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches. 
  • In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral colleagues and implementing partners, select appropriate SBC activities and platforms for engagement, ensuring quality and integration of the latest evidence and science-backed approaches. In this process, oversee coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities. 
  • Identify, propose, and implement evidence-based program/strategy recommendations from current data, evidence and trends for priority social and behavioral issues that can enable child identification and catch-up and ensure the integration of latest innovative approaches and technology in SBC, in program approaches and advocate for their adoption among internal and external stakeholders. 
  • Apply the above skills of designing, planning, implementing, and monitoring of community engagement and SBC interventions in catch-up immunization of children in targeted provinces. 
  • Make viable recommendations on inclusion of community engagement and social and behavioral approaches in sectoral work plans and strategies. Advocate for the inclusion of community engagement and social and behavioral approaches in sectoral workplans based on active participation in sectoral program planning and reviews and viable recommendations for the integration of SBC.  
• Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building. 
  • Represent UNICEF’s interests in partnerships and manage development of and progress against joint project agreements with relevant partners; represent the UNICEF CO and SBC Section in national and international level fora and among partners as relevant and necessary. 
  • Collaborate with national, regional and/or global partners to link and coordinate SBC approaches. 
  • Cultivate resource mobilization opportunities and produce proposals, reports and other materials to support resources mobilization. Contribute to mobilizing human resources for SBC, including staff, consultants and external vendors.  
  • Identify, recruit, and supervise consultants, vendors and other technical expertise to support delivery of SBC activities within the framework of vaccine catch-up in targeted provinces. Plan, use and track the use of resources and verify compliance with organizational guidelines and standards. 
  • Contribute to intervention planning, financial planning, budget planning and tracking and financial management for SBC.  
  • Identify, disseminate, and adopt best practices and innovative approaches and technology in SBC, integrate them in program approaches and support SBC and sectoral teams in implementing them. 
  • Coordinate with stakeholders and partners for the implementation of community engagement and SBC in humanitarian actions. 
• Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up in SBC and in catch-up vaccination zones for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners. 
  • Identify, design, and organize SBC training materials and opportunities for staff and partners, including on new approaches such as behavioral analysis, behavioral insights, human-centered design, social listening, and social accountability mechanisms. Develop and/or use and adapt existing UNICEF learning resources, guidelines and training materials to build SBC capacity among staff, implementing partners and relevant government and non-government counterparts. 
  • Develop and institutionalize best practices, facilitate the exchange of experiences and provide technical assistance for the uptake of new SBC methods and knowledge internally and externally. 
  • Plan and implement SBC capacity assessments within the CO.  
  • Identify and mobilize resources to support capacity development internally and externally and provide SBC technical support and capacity building to government counterparts.  
  • Initiate and manage partnerships with academia and learning institutions for the delivery of SBC capacity development activities.  
  • Identify and develop mechanisms to strengthen systems for community engagement in humanitarian contexts.  
  • Develop and/or adapt capacity development tools and activities for humanitarian programming with a focus on preparedness, response and recovery. 

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

Education:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s) in one of the following fields is required: Communication, Marketing, Social Behavior Change, Public Policy, Social Sciences, International Relations, Political Sciences, or another relevant technical field.

•  

  A first level university degree (Bachelor’s) in the relevant fields, with an additional two (2) years of professional experience (7 in total) may be accepted in lieu of a master’s degree.  

Experience:

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in SBC for Immunization.

• A strong experience in immunization strategies as Big Catch up, zero dose approaches, Equity Accelerate Fund, reach each health zone/district/child.

•  

  Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.  

• Experience working in a developing country is considered an asset. 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in French and English is required. Knowledge of a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are?

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. 

Remarks:

This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is:a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children, is a safeguarding response role. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

This is how cinfo can support you in the application process for this specific position: 

• Application preparation: Before you apply for this position: Improve your application documents by registering for a Job Application Support. Our coaches are here to help tailor your application to the requirements of the job (service provided at your own cost). 

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