Readvertised Vacancy Announcement – Social & Behavior Change Officer, NOB, TA, Abuja, Nigeria #00125731 (Previous applicants need not apply)

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, access

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally – click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/.

Social and Behaviour Change in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of social change in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, values, and the socio-cultural norms that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for sustainable behavior and social change. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around social and behavioral practices like immunization, breastfeeding, hygiene, and positive discipline.

UNICEF SBC employs a mix of approaches, including community engagement, strategic communication, applied behavioural science, service delivery improvement, systems strengthening and policy advocacy and social mobilization to advance child rights, survival, development, protection and participation. 

How can you make a difference?

Under the general guidance of the Chief of Social and Behavior Change Section and in close coordination with the Social and Behavior Change Specialist and Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Specialists and Officers, contributes to/responsible for the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based, inclusive and innovative SBC strategies in support of the country programme..

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC.
2. Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioral evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.
3. Support the operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building.
4. Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff and partners.

Key functions/accountabilities

1. Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes in both development and emergency contexts and to build the evidence base for SBC.

• In collaboration with sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, design, implement, and/or participate in SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers.
• Initiate, commission, manage and/or utilize qualitative and quantitative research on social and behavioral drivers that include behavioural analysis, human-centred design, social listening, behavioural insights, participatory research and/or RCT.
• Support data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting SBC results and prepare syntheses of results.
• Collate and summarize data, evidence and trends for social and behavioral issues to inform evidence-based SBC strategies, plans and activities
• Assist in establishment of community feedback mechanisms and use feedback to inform community engagement and SBC actions for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience. Generate and use SBC evidence, data, and assessments for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience.
• Contribute to terms of reference, research tools, frameworks and protocols for generating evidence to inform SBC initiatives and apply tools, methodologies and frameworks for data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting and disseminating SBC results.
• Conduct and/or participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises and make recommendations on workplan revisions based on the results.

2. Design, plan and implement SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and strong engagement and participation mechanisms in both development and humanitarian contexts.

• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, provide technical and administrative support for the development, implementation and monitoring of evidence-based SBC strategies and activities, including SBC’s 1000 Days of Child’s Life’s strategy, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches.
• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral colleagues and implementing partners, select appropriate SBC activities and platforms for engagement, ensuring quality and integration of the latest evidence and science-backed approaches. In this process, oversee coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities.
• Identify/propose actional evidence-based programme/strategy recommendations from current data, evidence and trends for priority social and behavioral issues and ensure the integration of latest innovative approaches and technology in SBC in programme approaches and advocate for their adoption among internal and external stakeholders.
• Apply the above skills of designing, planning, implementing and monitoring of community engagement and SBC interventions in all contexts, including emergency and humanitarian contexts.

3. Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and building alliances and partnerships.

• Represent UNICEF’s interests in partnerships and manage development of and progress against joint project agreements with relevant partners; represent the UNICEF Sokoto Field Office and SBC Section in national and international level fora and among partners as relevant and necessary.
• Collaborate with national, regional and/or global partners to link and coordinate SBC approaches.
• Cultivate resource mobilization opportunities and contribute to proposals, reports and other materials to support resources mobilization. Contribute to mobilizing human resources for SBC, including staff, consultants and external vendors.
• Identify, recruit and collaborate with consultants, vendors and other technical expertise to support delivery of SBC activities. Plan, use and track the use of resources and verify compliance with organizational guidelines and standards.
• Contribute to financial planning, budget planning and tracking and financial management for SBC.
• Advocate for the inclusion of community engagement and social and behavioral approaches in sectoral workplans based on active participation in sectoral programme planning and reviews and viable recommendations for the integration of SBC. Advocate internally and externally for integration of SBC in state systems, in the country programme, and in sectoral plans.
• Identify, disseminate, and adopt best practices and innovative approaches and technology in SBC, integrate them in programme approaches and support SBC and sectoral teams in implementing them.
• Provide support to stakeholders and partners for the implementation of community engagement and SBC in emergency and humanitarian actions.

4. Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts through capacity building for UNICEF staff, partners and implementers.

• Identify, design, and/or organize SBC training materials and opportunities for staff and partners, including on new approaches such as behavioural analysis, behavioural insights, human-centered design, social listening, and social accountability mechanisms. Use and adapt existing UNICEF learning resources, guidelines and training materials to build SBC capacity among staff, implementing partners and relevant government and non-government counterparts.
• Contribute to the development and institutionalization of best practices, facilitate the exchange of experiences and provide technical assistance for the uptake of new SBC methods and knowledge internally and externally.
• Coordinate and provide inputs into SBC capacity assessments
• Identify and mobilize resources to support capacity development internally and externally and provide SBC technical support and capacity building to government counterparts.
• Identify and contribute to the development of mechanisms to strengthen systems for community engagement in emergencies and humanitarian contexts.
• Develop and/or adapt capacity development tools and activities for emergencies and humanitarian programming with a focus on preparedness, response and recovery

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

Education:

A university degree (Bachelor’s or higher) in social and behavioral science, including sociology, anthropology, communication studies/communication for development, psychology, and/or a related field is required.

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 or social and behavior change, public advocacy or another related area. Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset..

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or a local language is an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

• UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies:  Builds and maintains partnerships (II); Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (II); Drive to achieve results for impact (II); Innovates and embraces change (II); Manages ambiguity and complexity (II); Thinks and acts strategically (II) Works collaboratively with others (II) Nurtures, leads and manages people (II

The functional competencies required for this post are:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Applying technical expertise ((III)

View our competency framework at

https://unicef.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/sites/DHR-UCF/SiteAssets/SitePages/DHR-UCF/Competency%20Framework%20Brochure.pdf?csf=1&web=1&e=IPpgba

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.

“UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Remarks:

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