UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent over 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children's rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

UNICEF MENA Regional Office based at Amman in Jordan works across 16 country and area offices. The region is one of the largest and most complex in UNICEF, with a range of country typologies and several on-going large-scale emergencies. The region has low levels of per capita income relative to its wealth, high levels of illiteracy, poor health and educational outcomes in comparison with countries of comparable income levels; gender inequalities; presence of harmful social norms and practices such as child marriage and FGM/C as well as violence against children and GBV; high youth unemployment; authoritarianism; and acute conflicts with mass internal and external displacement. The region is also characterized by increasing vulnerability to climate change, pressure on water resources, infectious disease outbreaks and constraints on civil society participation. UNICEF MENARO works across the region to support country offices to more effectively deliver better results for children, through enhancing programme excellence in health, nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene promotion, gender, child protection and education; generating and disseminating public goods; and strengthening organizational management effectiveness and efficiency. Emergency response and humanitarian actions undergird all areas. To streamline and strengthen technical support to and engagement with countries for accelerated results, MENARO has prioritized four ‘regional accelerator areas’: ending violence against children, climate change and water scarcity, life skills education and employability for adolescents and youth, and social policy and protection systems for children. A fifth – improving child and maternal health through strengthening of primary health care under the Universal Health Care agenda is under consideration given the strong political commitment and humanitarian and development focus on this across the region.

Communication for Development (C4D) is a core cross-cutting function and strategy of UNICEF MENARO to enhance programme excellence and strengthen results in the area of social norms, behavior change, and community-based prevention and promotion strategies. The C4D Section at MENARO provides on an ongoing basis, technical oversight and support to country offices to improve the scale, quality, impact and sustainability of social norms and behavior change interventions in support of country programme results. C4D interventions are also often at the forefront of UNICEF emergency response, where knowledge, attitudes, practices and social norms play key role in adoption of life-saving and protective behaviours. For instance, the recent, ongoing and unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic, wherein UNICEF is playing a co-leadership role in risk communication and community engagement, has highlighted the increasing demand for C4D expertise, capacity and support across all countries and sectors in the region. C4D principles and practice also undergird all areas of the regional accelerators that MENARO has identified as priority and requires close collaboration and engagement with child protection, education, WASH, Health and adolescent teams across the regional and country levels.

Over the past three years, the C4D Section has established or contributed to several cross-country and cross-regional initiatives. Key among them are the creation of a package of tools including a conceptual framework, a guide for programming, and a monitoring framework for social and behaviour change programmes. The package of tools is linked to the design of a major cross-regional evidence generation initiative with West and Central Africa, as well as East and South Africa Regions (WCAR, ESAR) on key child protection issues (child labour, child marriage, female genital mutilation and child discipline) that is currently ongoing. Results from this multi-country research initiative, that is expected to be completed in 2021, will drive improvements in policy and programming strategies that will be implemented across countries to achieve social norms and behavior change. The Section, in collaboration with Child Protection, Education, ECD, Adolescent and other teams is also contributing majorly to the development and advancement of a parenting approach in the region that cuts across sectors and life cycle phases. Lastly, building on its role in the COVID response, the section is investing strongly in capacity development and information sharing, monitoring of country progress, knowledge management, identification of good practice and documentation of emerging good practices and lessons learned. To support the areas highlighted above, the C4D Section at UNICEF MENARO is interested to hire the services of an experienced expert in C4D or related social and behavioural sciences with strong experience in and understanding of the local regional context and prevailing social and gender norms. The consultant will focus on operational engagement with education, protection and other cross-cutting regional thematic teams (adolescents, ECD, gender, monitoring and evaluation) linked especially to the regional accelerators, and provide technical support to C4D teams within country offices in this regard.

PURPOSE:

The C4D Consultant will report to the Regional Advisor, C4D for day to day supervision and guidance. The Consultant will provide technical inputs and support to strengthen ongoing and specific C4D/SBCC packages and activities initiated by the C4D Section, with a focus on regional accelerators linked to the education, child and social protection, as well as gender, adolescent and ECD portfolios, as highlighted below. The consultant will also support select capacity development, information and knowledge management needs, products and processes of the C4D Section at MENARO linked to the same. For this, the consultant will be expected to engage with both regional and country level UNICEF teams and partners as relevant.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

Provide technical support to strengthen and advance ongoing C4D/SBCC initiatives and packages linked to the regional accelerators with focus on education, child protection, as well as adolescent and ECD portfolios

Support the follow-up and strengthening of regional IPSOS research on social norms and drivers of behaviours linked to key child protection issues such as EVAC, FGMC, positive discipline, and ECM. Coordinate with all key stakeholders including the contracted parties, CP team, country offices and other headquarters and regional partners to ensure timely progress. Support the synthesis and analysis of data to develop a roadmap of next steps to influence policy and programming design at country level, as well as advocacy at regional level. Track progress and results to identify gaps and corrective actions. Design and organise an online or face-to-face workshop (contingent on the COVID situation) and prepare briefing documents and meeting reports for the above. Support documentation and dissemination of key products and deliverables including publication of results.
Linked to the regional accelerators and the C4D AWP commitments, support collaboration with key sections - child protection, education, adolescent, ECD and gender - to review, map, synthesize and adapt global guidance and tools for the region. Assess regional trends in data linked to the above. Develop new guidelines, tools, templates, case studies as relevant and coordinate with and support select/ groups of country offices on the same.
Support the strengthening of the C4D related dimension of the MENARO Parenting Programmes Review and Guidance. Prepare background documents based on global guidance and available evidence and provide technical inputs as relevant. Support the coordination of any internal taskforces or working groups created for the above. Liaise with key stakeholders – CP, Education, Adolescents, ECD, Gender, Country and Headquarters offices as well as external partners. Design and organise online or face-to-face workshop (contingent on the COVID situation) and prepare briefing documents and meeting reports for the above. Support documentation and dissemination of key products and deliverables including publication of results.
Support the development and operationalization of new areas of work in the region linked to the portfolios and thematic areas above as for e.g. gender socialization, and adolescent participation and engagement,
Linked to the above portfolios, monitor/track the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organizational guidelines, rules and regulations and standards of ethics and transparency.

Provide technical support for select capacity development, IKM and documentation actions at regional level linked to above scope of work

Assess and recommend potential contacts, networks, resources and tools across the region to support maximum impact and outreach of C4D initiatives
Lead on and facilitate the development and roll-out of an orientation package with training materials linked to the MENARO-led SBC conceptual framework, guide for programming, and the monitoring framework for social and behaviour change programmes (ref: Everyone Wants to Belong, Behavioural Drivers Model)
Document case studies and share best practices and products with global/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners and disseminate products to key audiences.
Contribute to UNICEF C4D sharepoint sites through collation and sharing of global, regional and country-level examples, case studies, guidance, materials, resources, tools and references
Review Arabic materials and update the C4D MENARO Teamsite/ repository with key documents, resources and reference materials focusing on C4D components of programmes linked to above portfolios

KEY DELIVERABLES:

The complete list of products and outputs against this consultancy, and timeframes for delivery will evolve depending on engagement with the key sections, the workloads and reprioritization of select tasks keeping in view the evolving COVID situation and section’s accountabilities. As a minimum, the consultant will be expected to deliver the following key outputs by the end of the assignment:

Workplan of assignment and monthly schedule of key deliverables. By end November 2020
Design and roll-out of a publication and dissemination plan for the products and reports from the multi-country research initiative on social norms and behavioural drivers which is expected to be completed by July 2021. Deliverable to be completed by July 2021 and roll-out initiated by August 2021.
Development and roll-out of an ‘Evidence to Action’ roadmap based on the results of the multi-country research initiative on social norms and behavioural drivers. To be ready and initiated by August 2021
Development and roll-out of a workplan to advance the Parenting strategy across the region through support to coordination of MENARO Parenting TF. This should include ToRs of the MENARO Parenting TF; and dissemination plan for all parenting strategy assets and products that have been produced/will be produced. Delivered by Dec 2020
C4D Concept Notes to support advancement of MENA Strategy/Approach to Gender Socialization and Adolescent Engagement (in collaboration with and as agreed by Gender and Adolescent Advisors). By Mar 2021
Organisation and documentation of up to two online and/or face-to-face workshops (contingent on COVID situation) with country offices and other key stakeholders to advance the ‘Evidence to Action’ Roadmap on social norms research as well as the Regional Parenting Strategy. This will include sub-products such as agenda, background notes, and workshop reports. Completed by October 2021
Provision of technical support to country offices through up to 1 or 2 field missions (contingent on COVID situation) and online consultation meetings on themes linked to the above. Completed by October 2021
Training/orientation package on the MENARO-led SBC conceptual framework, guide for programming, and the monitoring framework for social and behaviour change programmes. By September 2021
Updated C4D web/sharepoint sites with key products and deliverables from the portfolios described above. Will be ongoing and until end of assignment.
Up to 5 case studies on country level initiatives linked to the portfolios above, based upon an agreed format that is aligned to the C4D Section’s IKM/documentation approach. Completed by October 2021

Payments will be made on the basis of monthly progression reports prepared from the Workplan and agreed upon Deliverable schedule.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: Monthly progress reports submitted to supervisor.

TRAVEL CONSIDERATIONS:

Mission travel : If the situation improves, one or two field missions to country offices maybe required for follow-up, documentation and support.

For individual contractors and consultants, all travel arrangements to commence the assignment, including insurance and visas, will be managed and paid by the individual. Therefore, expected travel costs must be included as a budget item in the financial proposal. Should “mission travel” be required, UNICEF will manage and pay for travel via Travel Authorization. However, this will be subject to the following prerequisites: Medical Clearance, Security Clearance through the Travel Request Information Process (TRIP) system, the Basic and Advanced Security in the Field Trainings, Travel Visa, and liability waiver. Trip prerequisites will be met at the expense of the consultant.

Travel cost shall be calculated based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel. Costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals shall not exceed applicable daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rates, as promulgated by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC at http://icsc.un.org). The consultant must travel on UNICEF approved airlines.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Education: Advanced university Degree in social and behavioral science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations or other related social science field is required
Work experience: A minimum of 10 years of progressive professional experience in areas of social and behavior change programming, communications and C4D and/or related areas at the international and/or large organization some of which preferably were served in a developing country is required.
Language: Fluency in English and Arabic required. Proficiency in French an asset.

Payment Schedule:

Select proposed methodology: Monthly

UNICEF will pay a lump sum payment monthly, inclusive of all professional fees, daily allowances, living allowances, and other administrative costs. Overtime, weekend and official holidays will not be compensated, nor will any paid holiday/leave time be granted.

EVALUATION PROCESS:

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

Cover letter
CV
Examples of previous, relevant work (research/analytical work, data briefs or reports). Examples can be attached to the application or links to online resources can included in the cover letter.
Names of three referees
Proposed monthly/daily rate. This will be reviewed and accepted keeping in mind available resources of the section.

“UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations, 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.”

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org