C4D consultant to develop and finalise a costed National Adolescent Health Social & Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) 5-year Plan, 06 months, Kampala, Uganda

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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, a fair chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

BACKGROUND:

Adolescence is the period between 10-19 years and a critical stage in life for every individual, it involves transition from childhood to adulthood with several opportunities involving physical changes and important emotional and social developments. This period can be difficult and confusing and can therefore create a lot of fear and anxiety to the adolescent, parent, and the community. These circumstances make adolescents vulnerable about making reasonable decisions about their life, values and sexuality. The ability to make rational decisions and act on them is critical to healthy adolescent development

Therefore, to reduce these vulnerabilities, adolescents need access to accurate and appropriate information and services. They need to be empowered to demand and utilize services. The inability of adolescents to participate in their health choices reduces the possibility of adolescents to steer their own lives and realize their full potential and development.

Uganda is ranked third among the top 25 leading countries with a young population in the world, with approximately 47.4% of its 36.4 million people (36.4 million) being under 15 years and 8.9 million (26%) being adolescents (10-19 years). Therefore, this big population of young people majority of whom are still so dependent on their parents / guardians coupled with the increasing concern on the deteriorating state of their physical Mental and social wellbeing need to be supported to make informed and healthy decisions. This state of health is as result of increased burden of disease amongst adolescents from accidents, Injuries and Disability, displacement and epidemics, lifestyle and risky behaviors. The limited access to friendly health and other social services as well as accurate information by adolescent. This has been as a result of inadequate accurate information on adolescent health services, poor service provider skills, knowledge and attitudes caused by inadequate training, low investment in adolescent health services due to less priority and inadequate human resource for adolescent health services at all levels (school, community, facilities).

Furthermore, there is limited empowerment and inclusion of adolescents in programming as a result of; limited skills and appreciation of the benefits of inclusion and empowerment by the service providers and programmers, inadequate and unresponsive programs and services to the diverse circumstances and needs of adolescents e.g. special needs and varying abilities and inadequate skills of adolescents in programming. There are also negative social norms and harmful practices because of cultural, tradition and religious beliefs that negatively affect the health of adolescents. This is further caused by limited knowledge and awareness of the benefits of adopting positive practices that promote health of adolescents.

Justification:

In light of the aforementioned issue related to the physical, mental and social wellbeing of adolescents, this consultancy to develop and finalise a National Adolescent Health Social & Behaviour Change Communication Plan including implementation plan and M & E plan serves to provide an operational framework from the national to district and sub-district levels coordination of C4D technical support. The focus on structures shall include the various line ministries in partnership with the lead convener the Ministry of Health with UN agencies such as the UN Health partners - UNFPA, WHO, UN Women, UNAIDS, UNICEF, and WFP, in the joint effort to promote Adolescent Health. Examples of other adolescent health partners involved in this main intervention area are Civil Society, Non-Governmental Organizations, Faith Based Organizations, Cultural Institutions, and Community Based Organizations with a focus on adolescents.

The National Adolescent Health Social & Behaviour Change Communication Plan is the full package of interventions that shall include aspects that will be aligned to the National Adolescent Health Policy, Strategy and service standards. The National SBCC plan will operationalize the four strategies of engagement that is to a) change behaviours, b) conduct social mobilisation c) to effect social change, d) strengthen advocacy at national and district levels and realize programme results.

The National Adolescent Health Social & Behaviour Change Communication Strategy is to effectively support the delivery of results under the strengthening of technical networks from national to district and sub-district levels. This effort is to be realized through capacity building of the existing adolescent health related work that is mandated by the Ministry of Health as the convener of the Adolescent Health Technical Working Group.

Therefore, the National SBCC plan will aim to provide the following:

1. Awareness creation and sharing of accurate and appropriate adolescent friendly information for adolescent boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years old; 20 to 24 years old
2. Empower adolescents with the relevant skills and tools to enable them to adopt positive practices, make healthy and safe choices (linked to the National Multi-Sectoral C4D Strategy for Adolescent Girls)[1]
3. Address prevailing social norms and harmful practices that affect the health of adolescents
4. Identify key allies and champions who can promote the importance of adolescent health and influence adolescents to adopt positive health practices

SCOPE OF WORK

To develop and finalise a costed National Adolescent Health SBCC 5- Year Plan with an implementation and M & E plan including a communication capacity building component at all levels in close co-ordination with the Ministry of Health (MOH) Adolescent & School Health (ASH) division and Health Promotion Education & Communication (HPE &C) department, UNICEF CSD & C4D colleagues, UNICEF Adolescent Development Manager, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

a) Develop and submit work plan/inception report

b) Conduct a desk review of strategic Adolescent Health documents, research documents, current Adolescent (Health) Communication Strategies/Plans, review findings from qualitative research on adolescent health (knowledge, attitudes, practices, beliefs & behaviours) and other related documents including Adolescent Health reviews, social data and compile a report

c) Review and assess the current status of Adolescent Health communication activities, materials and capacities

d) Review selected literature on communication best practices for Adolescent Health in Uganda and with similar profiles to Uganda and identify those best practices that may be applicable

e) Identify stakeholder categories at national, district, sub-county, community and household levels and make a rapid communication and social mobilisation needs assessment

f) Conduct a rapid assessment of the actual and potential role of mass media, social media and other communication channels in Adolescent Health communication messaging and social mobilisation

g) Compile reference material for developing the costed National Adolescent Health SBCC 5-Year Plan including an Implementation and M & E plan with a communication capacity building component at all levels

h) Based on the above coordinate with key MOH departments and partners to develop an evidence-based costed Adolescent Health SBCC Plan including an Implementation and M & E Plan that includes: costs for recommended interventions/activities, advocacy communication activities at respective leadership levels, s ocial mobilisation and partnership building for social support to adolescent health interventions at community level, community engagement interventions, mass media & social media messaging and behaviour change communication at household level

i) Include both a communication capacity building component at all levels, as well as communication monitoring and evaluation framework, implementation plan and key interventions

d) Organise and conduct workshop to review the Adolescent Health SBCC Plan with key partners/stakeholders from relevant line ministries, UN, NGOs, Youth/Adolescent organisations/associations and DLGs

e) Facilitate a consensus building/validation workshop at national level to finalise the costed National Adolescent Health SBCC 5 – Year Plan including an Implementation and M & E Plan with a communication capacity building component at all levels

f) Incorporate feedback from MoH, partners, stakeholders and finalise costed National Adolescent Health SBCC 5- Year Plan including an Implementation and M & E Plan with a communication capacity building component at all levels

g) Submit final costed National Adolescent Health SBCC 5- Year Plan including an Implementation and M& E Plan with a communication capacity building component at all levels

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

Education requirements: University degree in Health Education and Promotion, Communication, Social Sciences, Behavioral Health Sciences, Public Health or another related field involving an Adolescent Health focus. An advanced university degree in the Behavioural Health Sciences, (Public Health, Health Promotion, Health Education/Communication, Social Sciences and Medical Anthropology) with emphasis on Strategic Health Communication planning for behaviour development, social mobilization, participatory communication, and research for Public Health interventions or another related with a focus on Adolescent Health is an added advantage.

Employment experience:

• A minimum of 8 years’ professional work at National, Regional and District levels experience in Communication for Behaviour and Social Change, Health Education/Communication, Adolescent Health and other relevant programmes; planning, implementation and evaluation of Adolescent Health communication for development involving advocacy, social mobilization and community participation, training in interpersonal communication (IPC) and social mobilization and C4D campaigns.
• Proven expertise in developing Communication materials, strategies and plans with a focus on Adolescent Health
• Experience in the development and management of formative research, monitoring and evaluation for Adolescent Health communication programmes is an advantage.
• Experience working with or supporting government at District, Regional or National level is required.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local language(s) for the preferred region is an added advantage.

Required skills and expertise:

• Knowledge and familiarity with UNICEF work.
• Previous experience supporting the health sector in communication for development related areas especially Adolescent Health
• Ability to research, analyse and synthesise information is an asset
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent planning and organisational skills.
• Emergency work experience is an asset
• Ability to provide quality products, with minimum supervision and to meet tight deadlines
• Ability to work with government counterparts and other partners at regional, district and sub-district level

Others:

• Excellent facilitation skills, negotiation skills and oral and written communication skills
• A repertoire of a wide range of facilitation approaches
• Strong qualitative and quantitative analytical skills
• Knowledge of the Uganda context is an added advantage
• Knowledge of UNICEF/GoU Adolescent Health programme is an added advantage
• Ability to work quickly and effectively in a multi-cultural environment
• Familiarity and/or experience with UNICEF and the UN system is desired
• High proficiency in English both written and verbal is required

Application Procedure/Call for Proposals

Interested candidates are required to submit a technical proposal on how they intend to approach the work. The proposal should include a timeline, and methodology, based on the Terms of Reference. The proposal must also include detailed CV of the consultant, as well as a financial proposal, clearly indicating daily rate for professional fees. The financial proposal must be all-inclusive of all costs (consultancy fees and where applicable air fares, airport transfers, daily living expenses). This is an international level consultancy and competitive market rates should apply.

Evaluation of Candidate:

The consultant will be competitively selected from a list of applicants based on their past experience of doing similar work (extensive experience in writing donor reports, in compiling and editing annual reports for various UNICEF offices).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The competencies required for this post are….

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

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