Consultant - Social and Behaviour Change

Duty Station: Sylhet, Bangladesh

Contract Duration: 12 Months

Number of Vacancies: 1(One)

Contract Type: Contract with E-ZONE.

Contract Start Date: 01 December 2023

Reporting to: Chief Field Office, UNICEF Sylhet Field Office

A. Objectives and Purposes:

The objective of this consultancy is to ensure dedicated and ongoing technical support for the Field Office Social and Behavior Change interventions.

The consultant will report to the Chief of Field Office in Sylhet under the technical guidance of the FO designated SBC focal person in close coordination with the designated strategic area/sector programme SBC Manager/Specialist. The incumbent is responsible for  implementation of SBC interventions/ activities including capacity building of UNICEF Implementing partners, field monitoring, reporting and supportive supervision including regular follow-up with UNICEF partners. S/he will be responsible for facilitating the integration of SBC activities/interventions across different FO programme sectors and the application of SBC and Community Engagement quality standards; and monitoring, evaluation of SBC and documentation of SBC best practices and lessons learned.

The specific assignment will be to provide technical support in the following areas:

• SBC Micro-Strategy Design, Work Planning and Implementation Monitoring
• Networking, Partnerships & Coordination
• Local Capacity Development & Systems Strengthening in SBC
• SBC related Research, Analysis and Knowledge Management
• Local Advocacy and Media Relations Support
• Local Material Production and Dissemination
• Support SBC emergency preparedness and response at field level
• Support to Field Office Operations & Management

B. Background:

Communities in Sylhet Division are deeply entrenched with many traditional beliefs and negative social norms that often lead to harmful social behaviors and taboos which require long term commitment, motivational process, continuous community engagement and mobilization, and dedicated human resources to bring about positive changes. Poor socio-economic condition coupled with lack of access to basic social services deepen the prevailing inequity across the division and aggravates the situation further.

Sylhet has historically been an ill-served division and lacks adequate public service provisions particularly in the haor areas and tea gardens. Negative social norms and traditional beliefs also hinder demand-side governance, leaving citizens often unaware of available services and unable to seek services appropriately.
Social and Behavior Change (SBC) aims to empower these entrenched individuals and communities, and reduce social, environmental and structural barriers that hinder people from adopting positive childcare practices and help development practitioners and policymakers design more effective programmes for reducing poverty and inequity.

UNICEF is well positioned for influencing and guiding the key components of the SBC agenda beyond its country programme as it has proven to be a trusted and competent technical leader and partner by Government and other development actors in this area Community Engagement (CE) and SBC is positioned in the Bangladesh Country Programme (CP) 2022-2026 as a key change strategy for realizing results for children across all programme sectors (health, nutrition, protection, education, WASH, and Social Policy.

UNICEF Field Offices in Bangladesh are equipped with human resources from technical sectors and operations support to implementation of the CP interventions. The purpose of this position is to provide technical assistance to Sylhet Field Office in planning, implementation, monitoring and knowledge management of SBC activities at the field level aiming to create demand from the disadvantaged communities of the haors and tea gardens addressing traditional beliefs and the lack in service seeking behaviors.

D. Deliverables and Schedules

• Detailed overall action plan and timeline prepared for the whole assignment in the first month of assignment.
• Monthly activity plan and report of previous months activities and key outputs shared with CFO for approval
• Field trip reports submitted within 15 days of end of trip and action points followed and closed in timely.
• Provide timely input and information to facilitate the localization and implementation of the Country Programme SBC strategic interventions (evidence generation, SBC capacity assessment and development, Community Engagement, and Innovative SBC packages.
• Conduct field monitoring of UNICEF SBC interventions and activities and write monitoring reports in line with UNICEF standard. 
• Knowledge products (print an audio-visual documentation, activity reports, lessons learned, success story, interviews, human interest stories, photo-features) etc. developed. 
• Facilitate pretesting and contextualization of SBC packages
• Emergency SitAn (SBC part), preposition material list prepared and stocks updated for SBC activities
• HACT compliance ensured for SBC activities as part of FO/section’s plan

E. Profile Requirements Qualification Skills:

Education:

A university degree in one of the following fields is required:

• Social and behavioural science,
• Sociology, journalism,
• Communication,
• Anthropology,
• Psychology,
• Education,
• Public Relations or another relevant technical field.

Work experience:

• A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: Social and behaviour change/communication for development, social development programme planning, public advocacy or another related area.
• Skills in preparing quality documents in English and Bangla.
• Experience in material development for print and multi-media, and community engagement
• Experience in climate change and emergency, social cohesion and peacebuilding, and urban programming
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset

Language proficiency: 

Fluency in English and Bangla is required.

C. Scope of Work:

Following are the expected specific areas of deliverables:

I. Support in social behavioral evidence generation to demonstrate and use in sector programmes

• Support in conducting sub-national studies on specific key behaviours related to child and adolescent wellbeing i.e. health, nutrition, protection, education and WASH. Support in different national studies on Knowledge Attitude Practice and Norms.
• Support SBC related  mapping exercises as required
• Conduct social mobilization and Facilitate Mapping of existing and potential platform/networks for community engagement and adolescent participation at sub-national level. Local level Advocacy with government for incorporating select behavioral data into existing monitoring and information system.
• Identify local CE and SBC evidence needs and facilitate evidence generation including for diseases outbreak communication and community engagement  and contribute to the establishment and implementation of feedback mechanism.
• Develop knowledge products (print an audio-visual documentation, activity reports, lessons learned, success story, interviews, human interest stories, photo-features) etc.

 II. SBC capacity development of UNICEF programme sector implementing partners

• Engage with and provide technical support to local government counterparts, local partner institutions (e.g., local universities) and networks (e.g., community radio) in the development and appropriate use of inclusive and evidence-based SBC strategies.
• Local level support on conducting comprehensive SBC capacity gap assessment for UNICEF programme sector partners (health, nutrition, education, WASH, Child Protection) and provide input to develop 'Comprehensive Capacity Development Strategy' and tools.
• Support implementation and quality assurance of the SBC capacity development of all programme sector and cross-sector partners.
• Overall management, monitoring and supervision of SBC capacity building training including assess, select and/or recommend appropriate information and materials for training, check accuracy, appropriate language and context, including facilitating pre-testing of training modules as quality assurance measures. Maintaining a roaster of the trainings conducted and the staff trained.
• Post training activities to assess the application of knowledge and skills and identify gaps which can be addressed through supportive supervision.

III. Community engagement system strengthening and quality assurance

• Support and establish strategic partnership at local levels for SBC i.e., faith-based organizations, CSOs including OPDs (Organization of Persons with Disabilities), local govt. bodies, private sector, women organizations etc.
• Support planning, implementation and quality assurance of inclusive community engagement interventions in health, nutrition, education, WASH, child protection, ECCD and in emergency response 
• Standardization and contextualization/guidelines for inclusive community engagement packages and tools
• Sub-national level RCCE communication, community engagement and communication monitoring
• Liaison with local civil society organization and individuals, local elites, intellectuals, journalists and other influential to engage them in SBC work
• Support partner agencies in ensuring HACT compliances

IV. Multimedia based SBC interventions for field level implementation

• Support in developing and implementing evidence-based multimedia communication action plan and campaigns for prioritized key behaviors in Child Protection, Health, Nutrition, Education, WASH, ECCD, Climate Change, environmental health, social cohesion, peacebuilding and in emergency context.
• Support adolescent and community participation as agents of change through digital, non-digital and electronic media, i.e., U-Report (online & Offline), Adolescent Radio Listeners Group (ARLG), community radio etc.
• Review/Develop standardized/ integrated communication packages/ tools on child and adolescent Rights and care practices for disseminating in various media targeting Children, Adolescents and Caregivers.
• Monitor social media feeds and understand the trend in relations to UNICEF’s working area.

V. Support in emergency preparedness and response for SBC at field level

• Prepare emergency profile for SBC activities considering the probability and types of emergencies at field level
• Contribute to preparing emergency, rapid assessment and SitAn, preposition emergency material list, and updating stocks status for SBC activities
• Support implementation of SBC activities during emergencies

F. Consultancy Cost:

• The consultant will get handsome remuneration per month as a consolidated package based on education and experience.
• Consultant will be responsible to pay all taxes as per government rules & regulations..E-Zone will make statutory deductions towards income tax as per government rules and regulations  

G. Administrative Issues:

• The SBC consultant will report to Chief Field Office for day-to-day management and supervision and will take technical guidance and direction from the Dhaka based Programme section and FO designated SBC focal points.
• Consultant will be located at UNICEF Sylhet Field Offices. The consultant will work full time in the designated FO.
• Consultant is expected to spend around 10 days/month on field trips outside duty station or as decided by the supervisor.

This position is open for Bangladeshi Nationals only. All candidates, irrespective of gender, religious and ethnic backgrounds can apply for the vacancies.

The UN Agency prides itself as fostering a multicultural and harmonious work environment, guaranteed by a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and on any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected consultants will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Candidates with the required profile and proven experience, who meet these qualifications, are invited to submit their application in English clearly mentioning the Job Title along with a meaningful cover letter, updated CV, recent PP size photographby email to:
jobs.un@e-zonebd.com

Last Date of Application: November  08,  2023

No phone calls please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. All applications will be treated according to the merit and with strict confidentiality.