International Consultancy - RCCE Preparedness, response and coordination consultant, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi

Consultant Programme & Policy

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background and Justification

Natural hazards, conflicts, disease outbreaks, epidemics and complex emergencies require quality Risk Communication Community Engagement (RCCE) and evidence-informed Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) programming to achieve sectoral results.

RCCE Preparedness, Response and Coordination consultancy will support advancing a measurable people-centred agenda across the ESAR to provide guidance in designing and implementing preparedness and response plans so that they can engage and empower communities as well as influence behaviours and collective actions adapted to specific humanitarian contexts in the COs.

The consultancy will also support UNICEF coordination efforts with the WHO, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other key partners within the RCCE Working Group. The platform aims to deliver structures and mechanisms for a coordinated evidence-based approach to RCCE across public health, humanitarian and development response.

Due to the protracted public health emergencies in the region in particular cholera and expansion of scope of the RCCE interagency cooperation, the SBC ESARO team is requesting services of RCCE preparedness, response and coordination consultant.

Scope of Work

1) Goal and objective: Under the supervision of the SBC Emergency Specialist, ESARO and in close collaboration with the relevant sections, COs, and core partners (IFRC, WHO) the consultant will provide coordination and technical assistance to COs in SBC/RCCE emergencies to enhance preparedness, response and recovery; build capacity of UNICEF staff and partners with a focus on community engagement and resilience; and monitor the implementation and results of SBC interventions related to emergencies.

2) Provide details/reference to AWP areas covered: COs and partners provided with technical guidance and oversight to prepare for, implement, monitor and evaluate RCCE/SBC in emergency response in the context of major emergencies and public health outbreaks; regional RCCE and SBC in emergency coordination mechanisms including inter-agency mechanisms strengthened and regional partnerships fostered to respond to major emergencies.

3) Activities and Tasks:

Coordinate, Fundraise, Advocate, and Build Partnerships:

• Collaborate with partners to coordinate RCCE work to exchange information, lessons learnt and share resources.

• Cultivate fundraising opportunities, contribute to proposals, and mobilize resources to support regional capacity to provide technical support to COs and core partners joint proposals.

• Document and disseminate best practices and innovative approaches in SBC.

Technical Support and Oversight:

• Provide inputs for and support the development of RCCE strategies, response plans and other relevant documents such as funding proposals, tool kits etc to ESAR focused COs.

• Support the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of response activities including oversight of the interagency team.

• Design toolkits and review guidelines for RCCE with practical tools and templates.

Support AAP guidance and implementation in ESARO

Generate and Use Evidence:

• Design and implement research on social and behavioral drivers, emphasizing underserved communities to inform the core partners coordinated response.

• Summarize data and trends to inform evidence-based SBC strategies, plans, and activities in emergency preparedness and response for core partners.

• Coordinate integrated approach to the evidence generation through integration of social listening, CFM and behaviour data to inform response of core partners.

Build Capacities:

• Support SBC/RCCE needs assessments, training, and capacity building around preparedness and response for ESARO, COs and partners.

• Adapt UNICEF and partners learning resources to enhance SBC capacity among staff and counterparts.

• Facilitate the exchange of experiences and provide technical assistance for adopting new SBC methods in emergencies.

4) Outputs/Deliverables:

Deliverable

Submission date

Payments

1. Coordination and reporting:

1.1. Interagency RCCE TWG supported activities in ESAR including.

- Negotiations with new partners to expand TWG

- Interagency fundraising strategy and contribution to 2 fundraising proposals to support TWG

- BMGF end of project report

1.2. Support to RCCE TWG

-- Moderation of 12 RCCE TWG meetings

- Coordination of 6 regional biweekly Core Partner meetings

1.3 Technical support to Inter-Agency IM specialist and RCCE surge coordinator hosted by IFRC

-Coordinating the Inter-Agency team to discuss progress

-Contribution to 2 work IM plans

-Revised IM training materials

By December 30

By August 30

By August 30

By December 30

By December 30

By December 30

By August 30

By August 30

35%

2. Technical Assistance to Zambia and Zimbabwe:

2.1 Report for support intra-action, multicountry learning event between Zambia and Zimbabwe

2.2 Technical support in RCCE interagency coordination, capacity building and behaviour research Zambia

2.3. Technical support in RCCE interagency coordination, capacity building and behaviour research in Zimbabwe

By July 30

By August 30

By August 30

20%

3. Inter-Agency Capacity building:

3.1 RCCE Readiness assessment including developing RCCE learning agenda in Zambia and Zimbabwe

3.2. Interagency Social science & RCCE partner training, community action planning , capacity strengthening IM package.

3.3. Operational Social science and surge support to MoH and partners in Zambia and Zimbabwe, including community engagement and focus group discussions, rapid qualitative assessments, and data synthesis of social behavioural data and data dissemination to MoH and partners.

3.4. Module on rapid assessments and behaviour research in emergencies based on Zambia and Zimbabwe quality rapid, coordinated and evidence-based RCCE interventions.

3.5. Training Package for Frontline Workers for RCCE response in Zambia and Zimbabwe including review of existing packages that have been developed, discussions with country core partners and piloting of the package.

3.6. Evidence Tracking Framework in Zambia and Zimbabwe to enable support for collective RCCE approaches to emergency readiness and response to be monitored and impact documented.

By October 30

By October 30

By September 30

35%

4. Learning and case studies

4.1. Consolidating actions RCCE Tools & Toolkits for Zambia and Zimbabwe following Cross Border Workshop

4.2. Coordination of translations of key RCCE tools

4.3. Case study on Zambia RCCE Interagency community centered response

4.4. Case study on Zimbabwe RCCE Interagency community centered response

By June 30

By August 30

By July 30

By August 30

10%

Payment Schedule

Payment schedule is as per above table. Payments will be per deliverable as indicated. Payment is upon satisfactory completion of deliverables.

As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary. The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts.

Please note that the final remuneration will be negotiated by HR.

Desired competencies, technical background and experience

1. Advanced university degree in behavioural and/or social sciences (anthropology, sociology, psychology, social development, etc.) or public health. Understanding of - or training in - current developments in the field of communication for development theory and research, participatory processes, media; as also strategic communication planning, behaviour analysis, formative research and evaluation. A relevant 1st University Degree in one of the above sciences, with qualifying experience, may also be accepted in lieu of the Advanced University Degree.
2. At least 8-10 years of solid work experience in SBC, of which at least 2-4 years in emergency contexts or dealing with emergency issues, 4-6 years in developing country contexts in ESARO.
3. Proven experience in coordinating and/or facilitating multi-agency SBC preparedness and response in emergencies. Experience in emergency response to outbreaks (Ebola, Cholera, etc.) or understanding of outbreak/risk communications and dealing with the media is an asset
4. Fluency in English. Knowledge of French, Portuguese an asset.
5. Must exhibit the UNICEF Core Values of:

1. Care

2. Respect

3. Integrity

4. Trust

5. Accountability

6. Sustainability

Core Competencies

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships

• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

• Drive to achieve results for impact

• Innovates and embraces change

• Manages ambiguity and complexity

• Thinks and acts strategically

• Works collaboratively with others

Conditions

• 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.

• Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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 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.

• 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.

• Consultants are responsible for determining and meeting their tax or duty liabilities in accordance with local or other applicable laws. UNICEF does not issue statements of earnings to consultants.

Risks

Given the increased workload around supporting RCCE in ESAR, due to the increased number of public health outbreaks in the region, not having this additional support poses a reputational risk to UNICEF.

This assignment is to coordinate the inter-agency collective for RCCE, which relies on collaboration from Partners and national RCCE working groups. As this is a contractor who will be paid per deliverable, this poses a risk of getting to the end of contract with some deliverables unaccomplished due to factors which may be beyond the contractor. A new working modality and relationship between the Collective service and the RCCE TWG co-leads, as defined in the revised Terms of Reference will ensure that this risk is addressed as bottlenecks will be dealt with on an ongoing basis during the course of the assignment. The scheduled weekly meetings of the Collective service and the bimonthly meeting of the core RCCE Partners where the Coordinator is expected to provide progress updates will ensure that the risks are addressed on an ongoing basis.

How to Apply

Qualified candidates are requested to submit the following to the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System) or email provided:

• Motivation letter

• CV

• An indication of their availability and fee/rate expressed in US$ for international contract to undertake the terms of reference.

Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

Apply now

Added 23 days ago - Updated 18 days ago - Source: unicef.org