Social and Behaviour Change Officer

Ghana is a peaceful, stable, multi-party democracy and a lower-middle-income country. The nation experienced steady socioeconomic development progress until 2020. Children under 18 comprise a significant portion of the population. Urbanization is a continuing trend. Disparities exist between regions, particularly regarding poverty. Many children in Ghana experience multidimensional and monetary poverty. In addition to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, several ongoing challenges, including health concerns, increased exposure to climate change, and regional security risks, pose threats to child well-being and overall development. The national medium-term development policy framework prioritizes areas such as economic growth, urbanization and infrastructure, digitalization, science, technology, innovation, pandemic preparedness, public health, climate change, emergency preparedness, and youth empowerment.

In Ghana, UNICEF cooperates with the Government and other partners to defend the rights of children and help them fulfil their potential. With offices in Accra and Tamale, the UNICEF team seeks to achieve results in strategic programme areas. The overall goal is for every child to survive and thrive, to live in a safe and clean environment, to learn, to be protected from violence and exploitation, and to have an equitable chance in life. The current Country Programme of cooperation is aligned with the Government priorities, the UN Sustainable Development Partnership (UNSDP), and Key Results for Children (KRCs) in the West and Central African Region (immunization, nutrition, learning outcomes, ending child marriage, and ending open defecation). UNICEF main strategies include Social protection and public financing for children, Advocacy and partnership, Social and Behavior Change and Innovation, Evidence and Knowledge management.

The overarching goal of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2023-2027 is to realize the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged. The plan establishes five goal areas aimed at making sure that every child: 1) survives and thrives; 2) has quality education; 3) is protected from violence and exploitation; 4) lives in a safe and clean environment; and 5) has an equitable chance in life.

Aligned with the UNICEF Ghana Country program, under the general guidance of the SBC Unit Head, and in close coordination with Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Specialists and Officers, the SBC Officer will contribute to the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based, inclusive and innovative SBC strategies in support of the country programme.
Key activities that the UNV will support include:
1. Support with generating and utilizing research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes and to build the evidence base for SBC.
2. Support the design, planning and implementation of SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and support strong engagement and participation mechanisms.
3. Support with strengthening capacity of UNICEF partners and knowledge management.

Under the direct supervision of Head of SBC, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
1. Support with generating and utilizing research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of SBC programs and outcomes and to build the evidence base for SBC.
• In collaboration with sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, assist with the design, implementation, and/or participate in SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers.
• Support with the management and utilization of qualitative and quantitative research on social and behavioral drivers that include behavioural analysis, human centred design, social listening, and behavioural insights.
• Support data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting SBC results and prepare syntheses of results.
• Assist with collating and summarizing data, evidence and trends for social and behavioral is-sues to inform evidence-based SBC strategies, plans and activities
• Assist with the establishment of community feedback mechanisms and use feedback to in-form community engagement and SBC actions for disaster preparedness, response, recovery and resilience (when and where applicable).
2. Support the design, planning and implementation of SBC activities that are backed by social and behavioural evidence and support strong engagement and participation mechanisms.
• In collaboration with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral specialists, relevant government officers and other UN/NGO partners, contributes to providing technical and administrative sup-port for the development, implementation and monitoring of evidence-based SBC strategies and activities, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches.
• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral colleagues and implementing partners, contributes to identifying appropriate SBC activities and platforms for egagement, ensuring quality and integration of the latest evidence and science-backed approaches. Assists with coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities.
• Assists team to provide evidence-based programme/strategy recommendations based on current data, evidence and trends for priority social and behavioral issues and supports with the integration of the latest innovative approaches and technology in SBC in programme approaches.
3.Support with strengthening capacity of UNICEF partners and knowledge management.
• Support with the development of SBC training materials 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 support strengthening of SBC capacity among staff, implementing partners and relevant government and non-government counterparts.
• Contribute to the documentations of best practices, participate in the exchange of experiences.
• Assist with providing SBC technical support and capacity strengthening to government counterparts.