Social & Behavior Change and Education Associate

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. In all of its work, UNICEF takes a life-cycle based approach, recognizing the particular importance of early childhood development and adolescence. UNICEF programmes focus on the most disadvantaged children, including those living in fragile contexts, those with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those affected by environmental degradation. UNICEF was created with a distinct purpose in mind: to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. We advocate for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper care at the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future. We promote girls’ education – ensuring that they complete primary education as a minimum – because it benefits all children, both girls and boys. Girls who are educated grow up to become better thinkers, better citizens, and better parents to their own children. We act so that all children are immunized against common childhood diseases, and are well nourished: no child should suffer or die from a preventable illness. We work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people because it is right to keep them from harm and enable them to protect others. We help children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to live their lives with dignity. We are UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Context

Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) in UNICEF is a cross-cutting programme strategy that analyses and addresses the cognitive, social and structural determinants of individual practices and societal changes in both development and humanitarian contexts. SBC uses the latest in social and behavioral sciences to understand people, their beliefs, their values, the socio-cultural norms, and the economic and institutional contexts that shape their lives, with the aim of engaging them and increasing their influence in the design of solutions for change. SBC brings social and behavioral evidence generation together with participation in community-led and human-centered processes. SBC is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate, with corporate results across sectors revolving around behaviors like immunization, feeding practices, learning, hygiene, and positive discipline, as well as transformations across sectors needed to make societies more inclusive, equitable and peaceful. UNICEF’s education program supports the Government in the modelling and scaling of quality- and inclusive education programs, as part of the broader implementation of Nepal’s School Education Sector Program (SESP). As part of this, UNICEF, in partnership with the EU and Finland will support the Government in contextualizing the strategies and activities of the SESP into local level planning, budgeting, implementation processes. In addition, a selected number of the 753 local governments will be supported through the so called ‘common package’, which includes programmatic support across the UNICEF education program priority areas and cross-sectoral linkages. This UNV assignment is part of the UNICEF Country Office SBC Section with a second reporting line to the Education Section, where the UNV will provide support with the roll-out of the Sport for Development component for Social and Behaviour Change in Nepal aiming to scale it to South Asia, along with supporting the SBC team on the digital SBC component, capacity development and partnerships for SBC, in line with the ongoing regional and country initiatives. This position will support UNICEF Nepal SBC’s focus on exploring and employing new avenues to promote positive practices and ensure that communities, and every child, thrives in an equitable, cohesive and peaceful world. For the education related scope of work, the assignment will support the UNICEF education section in the knowledge management and documentation of good practices and pitch documents, as part of the partnership engagement strategy with EU, Finland, and other key partners on the communication and visibility of the EU-UNICEF program and the ‘Common Package’ within this.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the UNICEF Nepal Country Office SBC Chief or his/her designated mandated representative(s), with a Second Reporting line to the Chief of Education section, and in close coordination with Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Specialists and Officers, the UN Volunteer will: • Provide support to the Social & Behavior Change programme, provide support for the development of the Sports for Development (S4D) strategy and roadmap/action plan for Nepal, making the linkage with initiatives to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (e.g., PEN-Plus) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH), as a Country Office flagship initiative to scale to South Asia countries. • Liaise with the various stakeholders and Country Offices (COs) to ensure that the S4D strategy is well-rounded and practical in context; explore new areas, leverage the existing ones, and build on from what is already working under S4D. • Map Potential Partners for SBC (and beyond) and possible engagement entry points/avenues/areas in Nepal and South Asia (with COs): explore new avenues, develop an action plan and liaise with the partnership's focal points as needed. • Support Digital SBC Approach, research and gender focal points with exploring and leveraging ‘games for change’, with a focus on bridging the gender digital divide and promoting STEAM for girls: support with mapping the local tech and gaming sectors in Nepal and countries in the region, share ideas and strategies on how to leverage the sectors for fundraising, support, and partnerships for the priority areas/Areas for Acceleration (A4A). • Ensure that timely updates are shared with the SBC Team, COs, and other relevant stakeholders. • Support with knowledge management: ensure that the components are well documented for the Nepal SBC internal and external communication platforms as well as for SAR SBC hub, and liaise with the Knowledge Management & Communication focal points. • Review and provide detailed feedback and critical analyse of donor proposals and reports. • Develop and supplement education sections, donor communication packages and materials for increased visibility. • Identify and provide recommendations for opportunities to integrate cross-sectoral priorities into the fundraising strategy and documentation of the education programme. • Offer feedback, essential insights, and conduct reviews of UNICEF's education reports and fundraising proposals when required. • Draft evidence-based documentation, case studies and human-interest stories to present the education programme to partners and potential donors. • Draft documentation to highlight the importance of UNICEF’s education cross-cutting components and how they relate to and link in with UNICEF’s overall education strategy and goals for current programme cycle. • Perform other related documentation and partnership tasks as determined by the SBC and Education Sections based on the exigent needs of the specific month to be determined on a rolling basis in the last week of the previous month. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. • Contribute with articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. As an active UNICEF Nepal Country Office team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: • Efficient and proactive support for: the Sports for Development component, with a clear strategy and a roadmap developed, support with partnerships and games for change. • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment