Batch Vacancy - Social Behavioral Change for Nutrition, NOB, Quetta, Lahore, Karachi

Contract

This is a NO-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-2 contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world toughest places, to reach the world most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil 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, Hope!

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among other things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilisers, communities and families, and of course the children and adolescents themselves.

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

• Every child survives and thrives -- being in good health, immunized, protected from polio and accessing nutritious food.
• Every child learns.
• Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.
• Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

To learn more about UNICEF work in Pakistan, please visit the country website www.unicef.org/pakistan and videos on YouTube and Vimeo

Benazir Nashonuma Program(BNP) was launched in August 2020 and implemented in 15 districts including; Rajanpur, Khanewal, Khyber, Upper Dir, Kalat, Surab, lasbela, Bagh, Hattian Bala/Jhelum Valley, Kharmang, Diamer, Astore, Badin, Dadu, and Islamabad with 50 facilitation centres to address under nutrition among pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and stunting in children less than 2 years of age through conditional cash transfers of PKR 1500 per quarter per PLW for boy child and PKR 2,000/- per quarter per girl child and linked with consumption of specialized nutritious Food, immunization and attendance of health awareness sessions. After successful completion of the pilot, expansion of the programme has been approved to the remaining 131 districts with inclusion of two more components; Social and Behavior Change (SBC) and treatment of Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children to be supported by UNICEF.

The nutritional status of women of reproductive age (WRA) is poor while progress in improving maternal nutrition in Pakistan has been slow, significantly impacting women’s health and well-being as well as pregnancy outcomes and their children’s growth and development. Minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W) - a proxy indicator for nutrient sufficiency and quality of diet indicates only 27.8 per cent of WRA met the MDD requirement. To improve above-mentioned indicators are to some extent driven by certain behaviors, hence it is crucial to address those harmful behaviour through an effective and comprehensive SBC approach along with nutrition service provision.

Social and behaviour change communication practice recognizes that many of the major individual and social determinants of behaviour – like knowledge, attitudes, and norms – are shaped by human interaction, in the form of communication between individuals and within communities. Public health and other development policies can also be shaped by communication between leaders, people, and groups that represent them. SBC practice encompasses a range of approaches and tools, including interpersonal communication, mass media, information, and communication technologies (ICT), and social mobilization.

Social and Behavior Change (SBC) officers will be hired for all the four provincial offices specifically for Nutrition Section. Under the supervision and guidance of the Provincial Nutrition Specialist, the SBC officer will support the existing Nashonuma program’s SBC component by:

Strengthening of Social Behaviour Change (SBC) on nutrition to improve safe maternal, Infant, Young Child Feeding (MIYCF) and care practices. Raising awareness among mothers/ caregivers for the promotion of MIYCF practices focusing dietary diversity and healthy eating habits at the household level through lady health workers (LHW) and social mobilizers (M/F) by using Interpersonal communication (IPC) evidence-driven tools.

Capacity building and skill development on counselling for the staff working in the facilitation center to improve their technical knowledge and skills for counselling on MIYCF to attain the desired behavioural outcome.

To make a difference, the incumbent shall be responsible for following key strategic functions, accountabilities and related duties/ tasks;

The Behavior Change Communication (BCC) Officer will be responsible for coordination with all partners (Government, WFP, CBOs and UNICEF) for planning, implementation and monitoring of SBC activities according to assigned geographic scope. Specific responsibilities include:

• Providing technical support for the reviewing/developing implementation plans and SBC tools.

• Developing approaches for strengthening the SBC capacity of implementing partners, and nutrition team in project areas.

• Supervising and facilitating the facility-based SBC activities for MIYCF counseling with demonstrations.

• Supervising community outreach activities for SBCC and social mobilization efforts including community peer support groups for SBCC on MIYCF through the implementation of an effective community engagement strategy.

• Managing partners who are engage in SBC activities with UNICEF

• Managing the project’s SBC performance monitoring plan.

• Support advocacy activities to engage health influencers, political, religious, and community leaders and other stakeholders.

• Strong coordination amongst all partners especially WFP.

• Development of provincial SBC action plan of nutrition services in coordination with all partners

• Monthly reports on implementation, monitoring of activities (Should clearly mention purpose/target of the activity, implementation status and achievement)

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

• A university degree (bachelor’s or above) in social and behavioural science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations, or another related technical field is required.
• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in areas of social development program planning, communications and public advocacy, training in interpersonal communication and/or related areas at the international and/or large organization.
• *A first University Degree (Bachelor's) in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• Implementation, and impact evaluation of SBC interventions, especially in nutrition.
• Implementing nutrition programs that include a strong behavior change communication component.
• Developing behavior change training tools and materials
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate..

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS).

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1), Works Collaboratively with others (1), Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1), Innovates and Embraces Change (1), Thinks and Acts Strategically (1), Drive to achieve impactful results (1), Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

View our competency framework at Competency Framework Brochure.pdf

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Life at UNICEF

Working at UNICEF is highly rewarding. With attractive remuneration package encompassing competitive pay and benefits, a culture that helps staff thrive and diverse opportunities for personal and professional development, we aim to help you maintain a fulfilling life both at and outside the office.

We make sure you and your loved ones receive the resources and care that you need to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. Our contracts, wellbeing policies and initiatives ensure that you are well equipped to effectively deliver for children such as;

• Tax exemption, family allowances, hardship benefits, 10 UN holidays and annual leave allowance, maternity, paternity, adoption leave, medical and dental insurance, pension etc.
• Career support, staff wellbeing programme, breastfeeding policy, flexible work arrangements, childcare room, family support, policies & initiatives, security etc.
• UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

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.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.

Remarks:

• These are 3 posts - based in Lahore, Quetta and Karachi.
• These posts are open to all internal and external candidates.
• Verified educational certificates/HEC Attested Degrees are a pre-requisite for employment at UNICEF. During the recruitment process candidates will be required to present HEC attested degrees/certificates.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

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 will be prioritized.