Social Behaviour Change Specialist

UNICEF has a long-term commitment to Iraq’s children and young people, with the first formal cooperation agreement signed with the Government in 1963. UNICEF works in close partnership with the Federal through established Cooperation Agreements. UNICEF has a broad geographic presence in the country with four offices located in Basra, Baghdad, Erbil and Dohuk. UNICEF collaborates with UN agencies, international and national NGO partners to meet the humanitarian and development needs of most vulnerable children and young people.
In recent years, UNICEF’s work to support the unique needs of young people has gained momentum, as the challenges facing them have come more sharply into view. UNICEF is committed to deliver for all children and young people through its overall impact goal of ‘realizing the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged. The UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2018−2021 recognizes the whole spectrum of young people, including young adults or youth over 18, and includes in its Change Strategies “supporting young people and children as agents of change.” Taking its cue from the strategic plan, the Global Communication and Advocacy Strategy 2019−2021 (GCAS) asserts the important role that young people can play in the successful realization of UNICEF’s mandate, and outlines the need to listen to, co-create and collaborate with young people and create meaningful engagement opportunities for them to make a difference. Being important drivers of change, children and young people are essential partners and contributors to both the development and implementation of UNICEF’s Strategic Plan 2022 2025. With a new and ambitious SP, UNICEF intends to be deliberate and committed in fully involving children and young people in creating the solutions to accelerate the realization of the SDGs and driving change forward.

The UN volunteer is sought to Support the Erbil Office with the Social behaviour change function. The volunteer will provide professional technical assistance and support for the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and administration of the Social behaviour Change program activities in the Erbil office. Responsibilities include data analysis, progress reporting, knowledge sharing, and capacity-building efforts, in alignment with the objectives of the field office SBC work plan and the overall SBC program strategy.

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, support the design, implement, and/or participate in SBC situation analyses and formative research that identify social and behavioral drivers.
• Support the initiation, commission, management and/or utilization of 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.
• Support the country programme 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, in line with global standards and UNICEF priorities and approaches.
• In collaboration/consultation with UNICEF sectoral and cross-sectoral colleagues and implementing partners, support the selection of appropriate SBC activities and platforms for engagement, ensuring quality and integration of the latest evidence and science-backed approaches. In this process, support the coordination with SBC stakeholders and partners to align plans and activities.
• Support the Identification of 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.
• Support the application of the above skills of designing, planning, implementing and monitoring of community engagement and SBC interventions in the context of humanitarian emergencies.

3. Support operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and building alliances and partnerships.
• Collaborate with national, regional and/or global partners to link and coordinate SBC approaches.
• Support 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.
• Support the identification, recruitment and collaboration with consultants, vendors and other technical expertise to support delivery of SBC activities. Support the planning, use and tracking 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 national systems, in the country programme, and in sectoral plans.
• Support the identification, dissemination, and adoption of best practices and innovative approaches and technology in SBC. Support their integration in programme approaches and support SBC and sectoral teams in implementing them.
• Coordinate with stakeholders and partners for the implementation of community engagement and SBC in 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.
• Support the identification, design, and/or organization of 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. Support the use and adaptation of 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.
• Support the development of SBC capacity assessments
• Contribute to the identification and mobilization of 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 humanitarian contexts.
• Support the development and/or adaptation of capacity development tools and activities for humanitarian programming with a focus on preparedness, response and recovery.
• Other assigned duties and responsibilities are effectively accomplished.