Local consultant- Behaviour Insights (BI) on Immunization in Georgia Researcher

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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For every child, Education

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

UNICEF is carrying out research to apply behavioural insights to improve the uptake of childhood vaccination, specifically human papillomavirus vaccination (HPV), in Georgia. For undertaking this task, UNICEF has contracted the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a world-leading social purpose company. The BIT mission is to generate and apply behavioural insights to inform policy, improve public services and deliver positive results for people and communities.

In 2020, BIT carried out a desk review to explore existing data and evidence and also carried out additional in-country research including in-depth qualitative interviews with caregivers, a focus group with healthcare professionals and a small number of meetings with key stakeholders.

In 2021, BIT and UNICEF developed a small number of interventions aimed at increasing timely HPV vaccination uptake. Throughout this stage of work - pre-testing stage – BIT jointly with UNICEF implemented, assessed, and further developed several interventions. This pre-testing involved three cycles of small-scale implementation in two vaccination clinics, data collection and iterating each intervention. At the end of each cycle of implementation and data collection, BIT and UNICEF facilitated the workshops to analyze the data collected at each stage and co-design any necessary adaptations prior to the next cycle of testing. Due to measurable success of pre-testing stage, UNICEF and BIT are planning to expand implementation of these interventions in two or three vaccination clinics and UNICEF is looking to recruit a national researcher to provide technical and operational support by administering, implementing and monitoring the said initiative and activities to promote Behaviour Insights (BI) on Immunization in Georgia.

Scope of Work:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of C4D Officer in close coordination with the UNICEF Health Section.

The consultant will closely coordinate his/her work with the BIT team. BIT will provide clear instructions to the researcher and BIT will provide prompt responses to any questions the researcher has and will be available via telephone to answer questions. The researcher will be expected to respond promptly to email communication from the BIT team (within 1 day) and to inform BIT of any issues in carrying out the assigned activities promptly. The researcher will also be expected to provide short weekly update emails every Monday advising the BIT team on progress they have made the previous week and the activities they intend to carry out that week. In addition to the emails, the researcher will be required to join weekly or fortnightly meetings (over Zoom or Hangouts) to discuss progress with the BIT team.

The consultant will provide a final report of the accomplished work based on the agreed tasks and deliverables.

The Consultant will provide support to C4D Officer in the following key functions / accountabilities:

1. Recruitment of between 1-3 health centers to partner with on pretesting/implementation:

• Identify appropriate health centres dependent on the type of intervention to be tested or expanded
• Obtain written confirmation from a senior manager in the health centre to confirm their willingness to partner on the pre-testing
• Keep ongoing communication with BIT to obtain advice throughout the process;

2. Provide oversight and project management for the implementation of the intervention:

Liaise closely with the BIT team and the health centers to ensure clarity on what is required in terms of implementation of the intervention

• Ensure all necessary staff members at the centre are fully aware of what is required of them, and have the time and resource to implement any intervention (if appropriate, dependent on the intervention)
• Monitor the implementation of the intervention(s), for example if the intervention requires healthcare professionals providing an information leaflet to patients the researcher will ensure the healthcare professionals have the materials and know how and when to use them
• Provide regular feedback to the C4D Officer and BIT team on implementation, including any issues or barriers to effective implementation

3. Support with data collection and/or carry out data collection directly

• Provide support with various aspects of data collection in order to assess the desirability, feasibility and viability of the intervention
• This may involve administering surveys designed and produced by BIT, arranging interviews between BIT and healthcare staff or patients, or collecting anonymized data regarding vaccine uptake (or interim measures to be decided by BIT)

4. Provide logistical support to the workshops following each cycle of implementation

• Identify the relevant invitees to workshops to further develop the interventions following each cycle of implementation (e.g. healthcare workers at the health centre or patients)
• Arrange the logistics of these workshops, including agreeing on a date and time, scheduling the workshop (via Zoom) and inviting all participants;

5. Reporting

Facilitate regular written reporting throughout the implementation period, as well as develop final report of the intervention.

Location: Home based

Duration: 11 October 2021- 11 March 2022

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline:

Recruitment of the health centers for testing

Monthly report/weekly briefing

October 2021 – November 2022

Provide oversight and implementation of testing cycles

Monthly report/weekly briefing

October 2021 – February 22

Ensuring data collection and organizing workshop during the testing cycles

Monthly report/weekly briefing

October 2021 – February 2022

Final report

March 2022

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

1. Bachelor’s degree in research, social science or related fields required, masters’ degree preferred
2. Proven knowledge in various research methodologies
3. Experience in conducting a qualitative research
4. Experience in conducting recruitment of people for focus groups discussions and in-depth interviews
5. Professional linkage with the primary health care institutions, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and other relevant stakeholders of the research
6. Excellent analytical and interpersonal skills and report writing skills
7. Excellent project management and coordination skills
8. Experience: A minimum of two years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: social development programme planning, communication for development, public advocacy or another related area.
9. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
10. Language Requirements: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

[insert competencies]

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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

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 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.