Temporary Appointment: Social & Behavior Change Officer (Immunization), (NO-1), Tashkent, Uzbekistan #127851 (Open to Uzbekistan nationals only)

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.

For every child, Visibility!

Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts.

SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, their values, the socio-cultural norms and the economic and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change.

SBC brings social and behavioral evidence generation together with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, driving behavioral and social results across sectors around themes including immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline, as well as transformations across sectors needed to make societies more inclusive, equitable and peaceful.

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

The Social and Behaviour Change for Immunization Officer reports to the Chief of Communication and works directly with the Social Behavior Change Officer’s close supervision and guidance. The scope of work under this Job Profile is related to promoting health seeking behaviour, including improving demand for immunization and COVID-19 vaccination. The Officer provides technical and operational support to the supervisor and internal colleagues by administering, executing and implementing a variety of tasks to promote community engagement and participation, and measureable behavioral and social change/mobilization, requiring the application of technical and theoretical skills and the study of organizational goals, rules, regulations, policies and procedures.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC outcome and outputs in immunization and to build the evidence base for SBC.
2. Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms.
3. Promote continuous learning, strengthening, and scaling up in SBC through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners.

1. Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC outcome and outputs in immunization and to build the evidence base for SBC.

• In collaboration with SBC officer, Health section and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government and UN/NGO partners, design and conduct SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers for immunization and health seeking behaviour; initiate, commission, manage and/or utilize qualitative and quantitative research on social and behavioral drivers that include behavioural analysis, human centered design, social listening, behavioural insights, participatory research and/or RCT.
• Establish community feedback mechanisms and use feedback to inform community engagement and SBC actions for immunization and health seeking behaviour. Generate and use SBC evidence, data, and assessments for immunization.
• Develop terms of reference, research tools, frameworks and protocols for generating evidence to inform SBC initiatives and apply tools, methodologies and frameworks for data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting and disseminating SBC results.
• Conduct and/or participate in country programme 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 for immunization and health seeking behaviour.

2. Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms.

• In collaboration with SBC officer, UNICEF Health section and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government and UN/NGO partners, develop, implement and monitor evidence-based SBC strategies and activities for immunization and health seeking behaviour, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches.
• In collaboration/consultation with SBC officer, UNICEF Health section 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 for immunization and health seeking behaviour. In this process, oversee coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities.
• Identify/propose actional evidence-based programme/strategy recommendations from current data, evidence and trends for priority social and behavioral issues for immunization and ensure the integration of latest innovative approaches and technology in SBC in programme approaches and advocate for their adoption among internal and external stakeholders.

3. Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners.

• Identify, design, and organize SBC training materials and opportunities for Health section staff and partners, including on new approaches such as behavioural analysis, behavioural insights, human-centered design, social listening, and social accountability mechanisms. Use and adapt existing UNICEF learning resources, guidelines and training materials to build SBC capacity among Health section staff, implementing partners and relevant government and non-government counterparts.
• Contribute to the development and institutionalization of best practices, facilitate the exchange of experiences and provide technical assistance for the uptake of new SBC methods and knowledge internally and externally.
• Identify and mobilize resources to support capacity development internally and externally and provide SBC technical support and capacity building to government counterparts on issues related to immunization and health seeking behaviour.
• Initiate and manage partnerships with academia and learning institutions for the delivery of SBC capacity development activities for immunization and health seeking behaviour.
• Identify and develop mechanisms to strengthen systems for community engagement for immunization and health seeking behaviour.
• Develop and/or adapt capacity development tools and activities for immunization and health seeking behaviour.

The efficient and effective technical, administrative and operational support provided to the development and implementation of SBC initiatives for promoting positive behaviour change towards immunization. This in turn contributes to enhancing the ability of UNICEF to fulfill its mission to achieve sustainable and concrete results in improving the survival of children in the country.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations or another relevant technical field.

• A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: social development programme planning, communication for development, public advocacy or another related area.

• Experience in Immunization/Health Communication is an asset.

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

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Uzbek and Russian is required.

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.

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:

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. 

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.