Latest Jobs at the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

Job Number: 528555
Location: Nigeria
Work Type: Consultancy

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

• Spotlight aims to change social norms and behaviors at community, individual and family levels advocating with political and religious leaders to engage them as positive influencers and champions of non-violence. To ensure sustainability and to break generational transfer of negative norms, Spotlight will target men and boys and work with youth in schools. Spotlight will engage with the media for creative advocacy, capturing local language and context to create public awareness and change negative norms.
• Prevention is the nucleus of the Initiative and the comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach to prevention will be based on the following key elements.
• Analysing root causes and risks by examining behavioral factors that lead people to decision-making. Critically examining the behavioral factors that lead people to make decisions, act on them, think about, influence, and relate to one another, and how they develop believes and attitude.
• Working with relevant formal and informal institutions that influences these behavioral factors (including beliefs, perceptions and behaviors) as the key custodians of socio-cultural norms. Learning institutions such as academic institutions (primary, secondary and tertiary), training centres e.g. teachers training colleagues, police colleagues, the law school and non-formal institutions e.g. women networks, peer education groups, traditional and religious institutions and council of elders will be targeted to use their platforms to promote equitable social norms and behaviours and non-violence among their subject and worshipers. Media, entertainers and social media influencers will also be engaged as they have a huge impact and potential to change pervasive negative norms, attitudes and behaviors.
• Engaging men and boys to become upholders of the rights of women and girls and not perpetrators of VAWG.  Male influencers at all levels will be identified as champions in the communities using existing platforms e.g. HeforShe campaign, husband and future husbands’ schools, men and boys’ networks and coalitions. Working with men and boys’ networks and coalitions will support the campaign against GBV/HP, leveraging on existing platforms that target men at the community level.
• Transformative change requires empowerment of women and girls to help them live a life of dignity. Thus, women and girls will be supported to access information on their rights including SRHR, human rights, sexuality education, to build networks and promote peer learning and counselling. For those furthest behind, this will be coupled with livelihoods support.
• The proposed task will address issues of gender equitable social norms, attitudes and behaviors change at the community and individual levels to prevent VAM/C and HP.
• UNICEF plans to work with relevant government and Civil Society Organizations including the National Orientation Agency, religious and traditional organizations at Federal and state levels for community mobilization and sensitization to create awareness on the effects of harmful practices and every form of violence against children especially girls as well as to engender positive social norms change.

Scope of Work
Under the management of the C4D Manager and technical guidance of the CP team, especially the CP Specialist (HP), the Contractor will coordinate community engagement activities (development of a strategy/plan), initiate rapid assessment of the social norms attached to violence against women and girls, and facilitate messages development process leading to production of various materials with messages on:

• Elimination of all forms violence against women and girls, including sexual violence against children,
• Harmful practices (HPs),
• Girls’ education, and
• Teenage pregnancy

The Contractor will foster networks for social mobilization and engage the wider public around specific issues or to act as agents of change.  Examples: Influencers call for the provision of services to survivors; peer-to-peer approaches to promote access to prevention and response centres; targeting private sector to put in place internal measures to prevent GBV.

Major Responsibilities/Assignments

• Design and coordinate a rapid assessment study to define the social norms attached to violence against women and girls in the six focus states.
• Spearhead and lead the process of development of a strategy/plan for community engagement to support behaviour change interventions.
• Facilitate an all-inclusive and collaborative engagement with key stakeholders to design messages aimed at eliminating all kinds of violence against women and girls.
• Support review and adaptation of any existing materials to suit the current objectives of the Spotlight Initiative.
• Work with identified graphic designers to design any IEC materials recommended during the message design and materials development workshop/process.
• Design drafts of any recommended materials in all forms – print, audio or visual and support the pre-test process in selected sites.
• Finalize the design of the materials to print-ready stage (artworks and dummies for translation/production).
• Incorporate all the proposed changes in the materials after the pre-test process.
• Oversee the implementation of community engagement interventions across the six States
• Provide monthly reporting on community engagement activities.

Requirements
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• A university degree in any Social Science - Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology etc
• An experienced facilitator with a SBCC background in message design in Communication, Media and Public Relations.
• At least Three (3) years progressively responsible professional work experience in SBCC/BCC/advertising and the use of social marketing approaches in messages development and development of IEC materials.
• Ability to conceptualize ideas clearly and concisely in written and oral form, innovative, plan and execute ideas.
• Specialized training in SBCC/C4D/BCC will be an added advantage
• Fluency in English is desirable.  Knowledge of local working language of any other Nigerian languages a plus.

Basic competencies include:

• Current knowledge of development issues, strategies as well as programming policies and procedures in international development cooperation
• Proven ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas, as well as to impart knowledge and teach skills
• Communication skills, to work closely with variety of partners, stakeholders and communities at large.

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Job Number: 528540
Location: Nigeria
Work Type: Consultancy
Section/Programme: ECW Secretariat
Duration of Contract: 6 months
Annual Work Plan reference
ECW Strategic Objectives 1 and 2
Section & unit: Communications and Advocacy team, ECW
Consultant Reporting to: Chief, Communications and Advocacy

Background & Rationale

• Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the first global movement and fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises. It was established in 2016 during the World Humanitarian Summit by international humanitarian and development aid organisations, along with public and private donors, to help reposition education as a priority on the humanitarian agenda, usher in a more collaborative approach among actors on the ground and mobilise additional funding to ensure that every crisis-affected child and young person is in school and learning.
• Based on the recognition that continuous access to quality learning is a key priority for children and families affected by conflicts and natural disasters, and that no programme nor organisation can do it alone, ECW comes as a ground-breaking initiative bringing together public and private partners eager to work together differently and to mobilise the funding required to deploy immediate and sustainable solutions.

As such, ECW’s mandate is articulated around five core functions:

• Inspire political commitment, so that education is viewed by both governments and funders as a top priority during crises;
• Plan and respond collaboratively, with emphasis on enabling humanitarian and development actors to work together on the basis of shared objectives;
• Generate and disburse additional funding to close the US$ 8.5 billion funding gap needed to reach up to 75 million children and youth;
• Strengthen capacity to respond to crises, nationally and globally, including the ability to coordinate emergency support; and
• Improve accountability by developing and sharing knowledge, including collection of more robust data to make better-informed investment decisions.
• Education Cannot Wait is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure.

Purpose

• In line with the ECW Advocacy and Communications Strategy, the Campaigns, Advocacy and Communications Expert is expected to design, develop and lead a global campaign about how ECW is trying to mitigate the devastating impact of climate change on education across the Global South, not only by helping national education systems to recover from natural hazards and disasters, but also by integrating emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction into all its programmes.
• Aimed at fostering an enabling environment for policy-makers as well as other key audiences to prioritise education in emergencies, the global campaign is meant to give voice to the overarching vision of ECW: a world where all children and youth affected by crisis can learn free of cost, in safety and without fear in order to grow and reach their full potential. As such, the campaign is intended to represent and amplify the voices of the children and youth we serve and compel greater attention and action by deepening our conversation with our constituents.
• As the lines between communication, fundraising and advocacy are blurring, the incumbent is expected to analyse the key channels on which to focus, balancing between offline and online communication and recognising that traditional outreach activities, such as securing speaking engagements, organising awareness-raising events and disseminating printed materials, still have a very important role to play. At the same time, the campaign will have to reflect and reinforce ECW’s broader efforts to generate greater political, operational and financial commitment to meet the educational needs of millions of children and young people affected by crisis.

Management and Coordination Assignment:

• S/he will be supervised by Chief, Communications and Advocacy and will work closely with other members of the Education Cannot Wait team.
• S/he will be hired on a fulltime basis on a UNICEF consultancy contract.
• The consultant may be home-based with frequent trips to the office for meetings.
• Occasional travel may be required, in consultation with the supervising unit, including to New York if the consultant is based in another country.

Main Tasks

• Partnership-building, networking and engagement: Identify opportunities for ECW funding in select multi-stakeholder platforms and initiatives on climate change, emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction. Manage ECW’s engagement in these initiatives to advance our advocacy, programmatic and partnership goals.
• Advocacy: Actively pursue advocacy and outreach opportunities and help position ECW as a key player on climate change and mobilize financial resources from climate change financing instruments. Help identify external champions and develop key financial asks.
• Planning and coordination: Coordinate preparations for ECW engagement in key global platforms related to climate change, emergency preparedness, and disaster risk reduction. Plan, organise and support engagement of ECW Director and other ECW staff in key initiatives. Coordinate the preparation of briefing notes, talking points and other information materials as needed.
• Communications: Support the development of key messages on climate change, emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction. Provide inputs and develop content/articles for internal and external audiences. Work with other members of the Advocacy and Communications team to develop strategies and messages for priority partners.

Expected Results:

• Successful rollout of a global campaign about how ECW is trying to mitigate the devastating impact of climate change on education across the Global South, which represents and amplifies the voices of the children and youth we serve, and which reflects and reinforces ECW’s broader efforts to generate greater political, operational and financial commitment to meet the educational needs of millions of children and young people affected by crisis.

Key Competences, Technical Background, and Experience Required
Education:

• An Advanced University Degree in International Development, International Relations, Social Sciences or related field
• Training or experience in developing and implementing communications strategies would be an asset

Experience:

• At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience in advocacy and communications
• Proven ability to design and roll out global campaigns that help fuel social engagement, shift public policy and mobilise private and public resources
• Excellent research and analytical skills, and demonstrated ability to produce cogent and compelling text that aligns with ECW’s broader advocacy objectives
• Experience of working in countries affected by crisis would be an asset

Language skills:

• Fluency in English, including outstanding writing skills
• Working knowledge of another UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is an asset

Core Competencies:

• Communication
• Working with People
• Drive for Results

Functional Competencies:

• Deciding and Initiating Action
• Relating and Networking
• Planning and organizing

Payment Plan:

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervising unit.

VISA Requirements:

• All Consultants and Individual Contractors and any family members, who are not United States citizens, regardless of their nationality, must qualify for and obtain a G-4 non-immigrant visa prior to their arrival in New York.