UNICEF Regional Adviser Social & Behavior Change Jobs in Kenya

UNICEF Regional Adviser Social & Behavior Change Jobs in Kenya

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.

Social and Behavior Change is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate. Most of what UNICEF does comes down to supporting, promoting and improving healthy and protective behaviors for children, with corporate results across sectors revolving around practices such as immunization, breastfeeding, hygiene and positive discipline.

Children’s wellbeing depends on the uptake of these practices which is driven by the choices made by their parents, guardians, peers, communities, influencers, service providers and authorities.

This calls for UNICEF to design effective change programmes approaching all these decisions as the complex result of the influence of multiple determinants, cognitive, social, cultural, economic and structural.

To fulfil the rights of all children, UNICEF also needs to support positive social transformation and deliberately address major challenges which cut across and go beyond sectoral areas of programming, reduce access to basic services and resources, maintain inter-generational poverty and fuel tension lines affecting resilience and social cohesion.

These include declining levels of trust in public institutions and growing disconnect between the state, civil society and communities; a shrinking civic space with limited access to decision-making and influence; weak and unaccountable governance systems; growing mis/disinformation, hate speech and intolerance; entrenched gender inequalities; discriminatory power relationships, stigma and lack of inclusion of vulnerable groups.

How can you make a difference?

Under the direct supervision and general guidance of the Deputy Regional Director and in close collaboration with Regional Advisers, the incumbent will be responsible for the design, management, execution, monitoring and evaluation of regional strategies related to the program Social and Behavior Change (SBC) and for providing expert advice, technical support and quality assurance to country offices in ESAR on policies, operational strategies and M&E tools related to SBC in view to accelerate and sustain results in gender equality, social inclusion, child survival, development, learning achievements and protection.

Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks

Policy Direction:

Guide UNICEF's regional strategies as they relate to Social and Behavior Change, in the context of the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Advocate for ESAR (RO and COs) prioritization of socially transformative, people-centered and community-led development both as a good in itself and as an accelerator of sectoral results.

Assist the global efforts to elevate the SBC practice in UNICEF, including the repositioning and progressive transition of the existing Communication for Development (C4D) network towards increased expertise and practice in community engagement, behavioral and social sciences.

Provide strategic advice to regional and country management to ensure impactful SBC programmes and sustained efforts for the agenda

Support to Regional and Country Offices on Program Design, Implementation, and provide oversight:

Support the adoption of tailored and efficient SBC operational models in offices across the region in all country contexts.

Bring coherence, complementarity and synergies between UNICEF’s sectoral and cross-cutting

areas, promoting alignment of resources and uptake of quality programming standards.

Ensure clear and pragmatic programme guidance is available and followed (where required through ESAR’s specific interpretation of global guidance/tools) to support UNICEF staff at all levels in particular focusing on:

Behavioral diagnosis, research and analysis

Accountability to Affected Populations

Social listening, collection and analysis of community insights, public perceptions and needs

Social research on key programmatic questions

Design and implementation of civil society and community engagement, participation, mobilization, governance and accountability mechanisms

Adoption of practices, uptake of services, norms-shifting programming

Partnerships and inter-sectoral alliances

Build network of academic/research institutions in the region to strengthen to the knowledge base while contributing to innovation and capacity building.

Ensure the SBC team is contributing to the thought leadership in SBC across the different sectors, with UN at large and as part of the social mobilization and community empowerment for social development and behavior and social change in the region

Create new opportunities for and support regional resource mobilization, increase donors’ interest in quality SBC programmes and confidence in UNICEF’s ability to deliver them.

Create opportunities for collaboration with civil society at large, especially community youth and women’s lead groups and religious leaders

Strengthen UNICEF’s leadership in community and behavioral aspects of humanitarian action, through interagency humanitarian mechanisms

Management and Leadership Responsibilities:

Provide direction and managerial support to the ESA Regional Office SBC team.

Manage the sustainability of the RO SBC team and meet timely budgetary requirements

Oversee and manage performance of direct report and ensure capacity development of the team to team to fulfill its roles and responsibilities.

Ensure inclusive management and well-being of the SBC team

Participate in the RO leadership team and contribute to CRITAS in the RO as in COs

Support the wider Regional SBC network through capacity building and other support

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

An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in the social/behavioral sciences (Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, health Education), with emphasis on participatory communication, communication planning, social mobilization, participatory research, training and impact evaluation of communication interventions.

A minimum of twelve of relevant professional experience in the planning and management of social development programmes, including eight years in developing countries, with practical experience in the adaptation and application of communication planning processes to specific programmes.

Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

How to Apply

For more information and job application details, see; UNICEF Regional Adviser Social & Behavior Change Jobs in Kenya

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