International Consultant: Social and Behavioral Change Consultant

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Hiring Office:

UNFPA Timor-Leste

Purpose of consultancy:

UNFPA seeks an experienced professional to drive advocacy efforts, communications strategies, and behavior change initiatives to promote reproductive health, gender equality, and population development worldwide and to contribute to achieve the overall goals of advocacy strategic intervention  to influence policy and mobilize support for UNFPA's objectives

Scope of work:

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

Under the overall guidance of the UNFPA Representative and in close collaboration with the UNFPA Assistant Representative and the Program Team, the consultant will:

• Co-lead the implementation of social and behavioural change partnerships, together with program managers;
• Design and implement communication strategies to enhance public awareness and engagement with UNFPA’s initiatives;
• Lead behavior change campaigns aimed at promoting positive societal attitudes and actions towards sexual and reproductive health and gender equality, including “upstream” SBCC.

The following tasks are to be carried out in the consultancy:

1. Implementation of social and behavioural change partnerships

• Provide technical accompaniment to the roll-out of the social and behavioral change for maternal health project with academia;
• Assume technical leadership of private sector partnerships in social and behavioral change campaigns.
• Identify key advocacy opportunities and create impactful campaigns to influence policy decisions and societal attitudes toward specific issues.

2. Provide technical leadership in amplifying programmatic impact through social and behavioural change strategies:

• Design and oversee behavior change initiatives rooted in evidence-based approaches, aiming to drive societal change related to specific thematic areas.
• Evaluate the impact of communication strategies on behavior change, conducting assessments and adjusting interventions for increased effectiveness.
• Harmonize and uniform key messages to end gender-based violence including harmonizing the content of the various training modules developed in past GBV projects
• Coordinate and provide substantive technical inputs to  the SRH National Campaign to end maternal mortality and unmet need for family planning

3. Management of external communications and advocacy:

• Develop and implement communication plans to disseminate key messages and advocacy goals across various platforms and audiences.
• Create compelling content and materials (e.g., press releases, reports, social media content) to convey advocacy messages and initiatives effectively.
• Manage community engagement of UNFPA Timor-Leste

4. Collaboration and Partnership Building:

• Forge partnerships with external stakeholders, NGOs, governments, and community organizations to amplify advocacy efforts and leverage expertise in behavior change communication.
• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure alignment of communication, advocacy, and behavior change strategies for maximum impact.
• Identify and support fundraising opportunities for social and behavioral change

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting:

• Develop metrics and frameworks to monitor and evaluate the success of advocacy, communication, and behavior change initiatives.
• Provide regular reports and recommendations based on data-driven insights to enhance program effectiveness and outreach.

Duration and working schedule:

100 days (from February-July 2024)

Place where services are to be delivered:

UNFPA Timor-Leste Country Office

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Contract Period: 100 days spread over 6 months from  February – July 2024

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

• Consultant is expected to complete all deliverables by July 2024
• Weekly meeting with UNFPA Country Representative and UNFPA program team
• Meetings with other relevant stakeholders based on frequency to be agreed upon

Supervisory arrangements:

Under direct supervision of the Country Representative

Expected travel:

Extensive travel expected (up to 15 days per month) within the country – across Dili and other districts with high maternal mortality rate

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

• A Master’s degree in Communications, Public Relations, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in advocacy, communications, or behavior change roles, preferably in the field of gender, public health or development.
• Strong understanding of global issues related to reproductive health, gender equality, and population dynamics, preferably within international organizations or NGOs.
• Strong understanding of advocacy strategies, communication methodologies, and behavior change theories.
• Proven track record in designing and implementing successful advocacy and behavior change campaigns.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to collaborate in diverse multicultural settings, Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; proficiency in other UN languages is an asset.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment and collaborate with diverse stakeholders.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g. support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

• Electronic copies of relevant documents
• Office space at UNFPA Timor-Leste
• Travel support and arrangements for official travels

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:

Interested candidates should send the following documents to  timor-leste.office@unfpa.org.

1. Technical proposal for upstream SBCC to increase access to skilled birth attendants (no more than 3 pages)
2. Financial proposal for the identified deliverables
3. Cover letter and P11 form

Payment Schedule

Payments shall be made on submission and satisfactory acceptance of deliverables as mentioned, and a summary report at the end of the consultancy.