Consultant: Social Behaviour Change (Nutrition), Pretoria, South Africa, 8 months (home based)

Contract

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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, HEALTH.

UNICEF South Africa, there for every child. We work to promote the rights of every child. Learn how we are supporting children to reach their full potential.

The South African government is actively working to decrease the growing rates of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their associated risk factors through the implementation of the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs. Furthermore, The Presidency, through the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) is coordinating the implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security (NFNS) Implementation Plan (2018-2023) which seeks to address all forms of malnutrition. In addition, a Food and Nutrition Communication Strategy for South Africa 2018-2023, was developed to address specifically strategic objective five of the implementation plan which seeks to influence people across the life cycle to make informed food and nutrition decisions through an integrated communications strategy. A need for a national behavior change communication strategy was noted to reduce the double burden of malnutrition, including stunting and overweight and obesity through positively affecting the consumption of nutritious foods and promoting healthier lifestyles.

In support of the implementation of the NFNS Communication strategy, UNICEF published a report in 2022 on diet and physical activity among adolescents and young people for the prevention of NCDs. Some of the findings of the study indicated that individual behaviors related to nutrition among young people are influenced by their family and friends, the availability of foods in schools and at home, exposure to food marketing and advertisement of foods by enterprises as well as social media, food prices, taste, and mental health status including issues with depression, anxiety, and self-esteem.

Given the various factors that influence nutrition-related behaviors, changing such behaviors requires interventions at multiple levels – from individual awareness of harms and knowledge and perceptions of healthier, affordable, and accessible food alternatives; to community level changes that address practical and normative barriers for individuals to facilitate healthier nutritional choices; to a policy environment which is conducive of healthy choices. It also requires meaningfully involving young people in any initiative that seeks to influence their behavior. UNICEF South Africa works with a large network of UNICEF Volunteers through clubs primarily hosted in institutions of higher learning across the country. Volunteers are on average aged 18-24 and work to support the UNICEF mandate. In addition, UNICEF works closely with youth networks that support and empower young people to engage with policy. Meanwhile, Civil Society Organizations in South Africa are active, vocal, and influential in the food policy space and well-aligned with the goals of UNICEF to improve the food environment for the benefit of children and youth. During 2022-2023, UNICEF South Africa implemented a communications and advocacy campaign titled My Body, My Health, My Wealth. This campaign reached over 2 000 000 young people aged 15-24 years with messages on prevention of obesity and noncommunicable diseases through various platforms, primarily digital. This campaign helped UNICEF establish itself in the space of advocacy for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases and to mobilize young people to engage in these topics. It also led to important learnings regarding youth engagement and participation. To support the implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security Communication Strategy for South Africa 2018-2023, UNICEF seeks to implement a national youth-led and community-based social behavior change (SBC) campaign for NCD prevention aiming to reach and engage adolescents and young people aged 15-24 years. The campaign builds on the achievements and learnings from My Body, My Health, My Wealth and seeks to co-create with and actively involve young people, as well as relevant stakeholders and government Departments, in its implementation.

How can you make a difference?

Overarching goal:

Under the supervision of the Nutrition Programme at UNICEF South Africa and in close coordination with other team members and sections, the consultant will design, implement, and evaluate a Social Behavior Change campaign for NCD prevention for and with youth aged 15-24 years. The consultant will ensure that the campaign achieves the following objectives:

1. Improve knowledge and awareness of modifiable risk factors for NCDs (diet, physical activity, mental wellness), and benefits of preventive practices among adolescents and youth aged 15-24 years. 2. Increase capacity among relevant local youth structures and advocacy partners to take an active role in NCD prevention and advocacy for food policy changes to improve the food environment in South Africa. 3. Improve the capacity of young people aged 15-24 years to plan, implement and evaluate youth-led nutrition interventions to increase access to and demand for nutritious food at the individual, community, and policy levels.

Duration and reach: The campaign will have a duration of eight months and aims to reach at least 1 500 000 adolescents and young people aged 15-24 years in South Africa.

SCOPE OF WORK Under the supervision of the Nutrition team at UNICEF and in collaboration with young people and selected Civil Society Organizations, the consultant will be required to design, implement, and evaluate an SBC campaign, targeting adolescents and youth aged 15-24 years. The campaign seeks to engage with young people, local youth structures and advocacy partners to raise awareness on diet and physical activity for the prevention of NCDs, empower them to be agents of change and to demand the strengthening and implementation of public health policies to improve the food system. 1) Outputs/Deliverables: Following the approach of the National Food and Nutrition Communications Strategy, the UNICEF SBC campaign will use a multi-platform approach to influence change among and along with young people at three main domains: individual, community, and policy levels. The campaign should aim to directly engage with and reach adolescents and young people through online and traditional media, social media engagements, in-person events in selected provinces (TBD) as well as digital events and training and mentorship. It will in addition leverage existing platforms and networks of the CSOs and government, to maximize reach and impact. The campaign will include the following main phases and specific activities: Phase I: Design and Planning  Conduct a co-creative workshop with key stakeholders including youth and relevant CSOs to design a comprehensive SBC campaign plan.  Based on the above workshop, develop a comprehensive campaign plan including SMART objectives, activities, milestones, defined roles and responsibilities, a defined digital advertising strategy, monitoring and evaluation and other relevant matters.  Establish and maintain a consultation group including relevant stakeholders (CSO representatives, youth, communications and advocacy specialists, government officials, etc.) to consult on, drive and share key milestones of the campaign.  Present the campaign plan to UNICEF and obtain feedback to fully finalize the campaign plan. Phase II: Implementation  Facilitate the implementation of all activities stipulated in the campaign plan over the course of the consultancy.  Facilitate regular and ad hoc meetings with the consultation group to test specific approaches, messages and initiatives to ensure they are age and context appropriate.  With feedback from UNICEF and in close collaboration with young people and CSOs, facilitate development of a package of NCD prevention materials in various formats (social media tiles, blog posts, scripts for radio and video, surveys or quizzes, press releases etc.)  Facilitate the dissemination of messages on multiple platforms regularly throughout the campaign duration to reach at least 1 500 000 young people. Outreach platforms include but are not limited to existing government platforms (e.g., B-Wise and Side by Side) UNICEF website, UNICEF volunteer campus clubs and other youth structures, UNICEF social media platforms (Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter), U-Report, Internet of Good Things, school platforms, community radio and print media.  Facilitate targeted boosting of campaign posts on social media platforms to increase reach.  Liaise with relevant UNICEF staff to keep the campaign website up to date with new materials developed.  Facilitate translation of selected campaign content into other official languages of South Africa, to be determined with the UNICEF team.

 Conduct training, mentorship and capacity-building activities for local youth structures and advocacy partners on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of youth-led SBC campaigns for NCD prevention. Phase III: Monitoring and evaluation  Within the campaign plan, develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan including quantitative and qualitative research tools for collection of baseline and endline data to assess the reach and effectiveness of the messages communicated and the activities conducted.  Facilitate regular and ad hoc project management meetings with consultative group to monitor implementation and elicit feedback to course correct, as required.  Conduct evaluations of key activities based on the three campaign objectives.  Prepare a comprehensive written report of the process, achievements, reach and lessons learned and present final evaluation and results to UNICEF. Each phase of the consultancy will require feedback and inputs from UNICEF before these are considered complete. The consultant is expected to present results and progress to UNICEF on a regular basis.

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

• Minimum of 5 years or more of relevant experience in social and behavior change, risk communication and community engagement
• Previous experience with prevention of noncommunicable diseases, nutrition, or health promotion
• Solid experience in Results-Based Measurement and in social and behavior change monitoring and evaluation
• Solid experience in multi-partner coordination
• Experience engaging and working with young people is desirable
• Expertise in the development and design of knowledge products for various audiences
• Proven record of securing placements with traditional and digital media
• Thorough knowledge of social media tools, including Twitter and Facebook
• A good track record in working with the government and implementation of social and behavior change strategies
• Relevant experience working in the UN or other international development organization is an asset
• Ability to (i) work flexibly and independently with limited supervision in a multicultural team environment and deliver quality results against tight deadlines; and (ii) handle multiple tasks and deliver quality outputs even under pressure, is required
• Strong computer skills (word, excel, power point, outlook) are required. Skills with other software such as Canva, Photoshop and similar are desirable
• Strong communication skills (both writing and speaking), especially the ability to draft analytical reports/documents is required
• Proactive coordination and networking skills required
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit 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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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:

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.