Social & Behavior Change Officer, NO-A (TA, 364 days), Chisinau, Moldova (for Moldova nationals only)
Job no: 566337
Position type: Temporary Appointment
Location: Republic of Moldova Division/Equivalent: CEE/CIS
School/Unit: Moldova
Department/Office: Chisinau, Moldova
Categories: Early Childhood Development, Social and Behavior Change
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, a voice
UNICEF’s mission in Moldova is to make sure every child in the country is healthy, educated and safe from harm, therefore having the best start in life and a fair chance to reach her or his full potential and benefit from the country’s prosperity.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a maturational and iterative process involving an ordered progression of motor, cognitive, language, socio-emotional and self-regulatory skills and capacities across the first few years of life. It is viewed a holistic approach that encompasses health, nutrition, social protection and stimulation, as articulated in the Nurturing Care Framework and needs significant SBC activities for parents and front line workers to ensure children fulfil their full potential.
How can you make a difference?
Under the supervision of the ECD Officer and general guidance of the Education Specialist/Education Section, and in close coordination with Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Specialists and Officers, the SBC Officer contributes to / be responsible for the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based, inclusive and innovative SBC strategies in support of the early childhood development/education programs.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
- Support the generation and utilization of research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of ECD/education programs and outcomes from SBC perspective, in both development and emergency contexts;
- Support the 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 ECD/education area;
- Support the operationalization of SBC by advocating for SBC, mobilizing resources, coordinating across stakeholders, sectors and teams, and partnership building in area related to nurturing care/education.
- Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts in ECD/education sector through capacity building for UNICEF staff, partners and implementers.
1. Generate and utilize research, data, and evidence to inform the design, measurement, and monitoring of ECD/Education 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 in the area of ECD/education.
- 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. Use data provided by ECD Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) study among caregivers of children aged 0-6 y.o. to change perceptions and practices among caregivers on child development, knowledge of danger signs and others.
- Support data collection, tracking, monitoring and reporting SBC results and prepare syntheses of results in the area of ECD/education.
- Collate and summarize data, evidence and trends for social and behavioral issues to inform evidence-based ECD/education strategies, plans and activities in ECE/ECD and education area.
- Assist in developing the ECD strategy/programs from the perspective of SBC to ensure that policies/programs can enhance positive perceptions and bring results for children to fulfil their potential; (initiate and develop the ECD learning platform; provide technical support for capacity building in the area of interpersonal communication skills of front-line workers in provision of home visiting services, animated videos on child development and early intervention, etc.
- 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 in the area of ECD/education.
- Support the ECD/education programme monitoring and evaluation exercises and make recommendations on workplan revisions based on the results (like Lego project, EDUTechLabs and other relevant programs).
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 the education and ECD sector.
- 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 related to ECD/education section.
- 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 (such as scale up of Lego project, EDUTechLabs, Bebbo application and ECI communication campaign).
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 in the education/ECD area.
- 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 related to education section.
- 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 in education from SBC perspective.
- 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.
- Support the identification, dissemination, and adoption of best practices and innovative approaches and technology in SBC. Support their integration in education programme approaches and support SBC and sectoral teams in implementing them. Support in the launch events of Lego project, launch of EDU Tech Labs, further promotion of Bebbo app, develop and promote human-stories and best practices.
- Coordinate with stakeholders and partners for the implementation of community engagement and SBC in humanitarian actions in education sector.
4. Promote continuous learning, strengthening and scaling up in SBC for both development and humanitarian contexts in ECD/education sector 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 in education sector, 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 in education and health sectors.
- 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 in ECD/education sector.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have
- A university degree (Bachelor’s or higher) in a social and behavioural science, including sociology, anthropology, communication studies/communication for development, psychology and/or related field is required.
- A minimum of one year of professional experience in one or more of the following areas is required: social development programme planning, communication for development or social and behaviour change, public advocacy or another related area.
- Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.
- Fluency in Romanian and working knowledge of English is required. Knowledge of Russian or another UN language is an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
UNICEF competencies required for this post are
- Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
- Works Collaboratively with others (1)
- Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
- Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
- Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
- Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
- Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)
During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
This position has been assessed as an elevated risk role for Child Safeguarding purposes as it is: a role with direct contact with children, works directly with children. Additional vetting and assessment for elevated risk roles in child safeguarding (potentially including additional criminal background checks) applies.
Remarks:
UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.
UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Advertised: Oct 03 2023 GTB Daylight Time
Application close: Oct 17 2023 GTB Daylight Time
Back to list
- Closes Oct 17 2023Social & Behavior Change Officer, NO-A (TA, 364 days), Chisinau, Moldova (for Moldova nationals only) in Republic of Moldova
UNICEF Moldova is hiring a SBC Officer, NO-A (TA) to contributes to / be responsible for the design, management, monitoring and evaluation of evidence-based, inclusive and innovative SBC strategies in support of the early childhood development/education programs