Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.
Context
Kenya faces significant challenges in achieving food and nutrition security, particularly for its children. Child food poverty, defined as a lack of access to diverse and nutritious diets, affects over 60% of children nationwide. Severe child food poverty impacts 16% of children who consume food from only two or fewer food groups daily. Meanwhile, 47% experience moderate food poverty, accessing only three or four food groups (UNICEF Child Poverty report 2024). Dietary gaps are especially seen in children's consumption of pulses, nuts and seeds, eggs, fish, dairy, fruits and vegetables.
The government has developed several key frameworks to improve the consumption of healthy diets for children and their families. They include:
• Kenya Social and Behaviour Change Strategy for Healthy Diets
• National Healthy Diets Guidelines
• Maternal Infant and Young Child Feeding Guidelines and counselling cards
• NICHE Social and Behaviour Change Communication strategy
To combat child food poverty UNICEF Kenya is implementing the First Foods Africa (FFA) initiative by promoting the consumption of nutritious, locally produced, nutrient-dense foods for children aged 6–59 months. The initiative has three pillars:
1. Supporting local production
2. Strengthening the policy and regulatory environment to promote consumption of nutritious and healthy foods
3. Stimulating demand and consumption of diverse, nutrient-rich foods
This Terms of Reference relate to Pillar 3 demand creation requiring a qualified UNV to support in the implementation and coordination of FFA. Read more about the First Foods Africa Initiative here www.unicef.org/documents/first-foods-africa
This work under FFA directly contributes to national priorities on improving demand for and consumption of nutritious foods by strengthening the systems, capacities, and approaches that underpin effective nutrition communication and behaviour change. It is designed to complement and reinforce ongoing Ministry of Health (MoH)-led nutrition education and communication efforts, including existing strategies, tools, and messaging packages. strengthening.
This UN Volunteer assignment is part of UNICEF Kenya’s implementation of the First Foods Africa (FFA) initiative, designed to improve access to, affordability of, and demand for nutritious foods for young children. FFA operates through three mutually reinforcing pillars: strengthening nutritious food supply and investment, improving policy and food environments, and increasing demand and social norms for healthy diets. The assignment specifically supports the demand generation pillar, which focuses on shifting behaviours, norms, and preferences among caregivers, youth, and communities through innovative social and behaviour change (SBC) approaches and strategic partnerships across government, civil society, and the private sector.
The UN Volunteer will be embedded within the SBC Unit and will work closely with nutrition, youth, and partnerships teams, as well as government counterparts, youth networks, and private-sector actors.
The government has developed several key frameworks to improve the consumption of healthy diets for children and their families. They include:
• Kenya Social and Behaviour Change Strategy for Healthy Diets
• National Healthy Diets Guidelines
• Maternal Infant and Young Child Feeding Guidelines and counselling cards
• NICHE Social and Behaviour Change Communication strategy
To combat child food poverty UNICEF Kenya is implementing the First Foods Africa (FFA) initiative by promoting the consumption of nutritious, locally produced, nutrient-dense foods for children aged 6–59 months. The initiative has three pillars:
1. Supporting local production
2. Strengthening the policy and regulatory environment to promote consumption of nutritious and healthy foods
3. Stimulating demand and consumption of diverse, nutrient-rich foods
This Terms of Reference relate to Pillar 3 demand creation requiring a qualified UNV to support in the implementation and coordination of FFA. Read more about the First Foods Africa Initiative here www.unicef.org/documents/first-foods-africa
This work under FFA directly contributes to national priorities on improving demand for and consumption of nutritious foods by strengthening the systems, capacities, and approaches that underpin effective nutrition communication and behaviour change. It is designed to complement and reinforce ongoing Ministry of Health (MoH)-led nutrition education and communication efforts, including existing strategies, tools, and messaging packages. strengthening.
This UN Volunteer assignment is part of UNICEF Kenya’s implementation of the First Foods Africa (FFA) initiative, designed to improve access to, affordability of, and demand for nutritious foods for young children. FFA operates through three mutually reinforcing pillars: strengthening nutritious food supply and investment, improving policy and food environments, and increasing demand and social norms for healthy diets. The assignment specifically supports the demand generation pillar, which focuses on shifting behaviours, norms, and preferences among caregivers, youth, and communities through innovative social and behaviour change (SBC) approaches and strategic partnerships across government, civil society, and the private sector.
The UN Volunteer will be embedded within the SBC Unit and will work closely with nutrition, youth, and partnerships teams, as well as government counterparts, youth networks, and private-sector actors.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC ) Specialist, with a dotted reporting line to the First Foods Africa (FFA) Manager, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Support the design and implementation of the demand generation component (Pillar 3) of the First Foods Africa initiative, ensuring alignment with national nutrition priorities and UNICEF Food Systems for Children programming.
• Contribute to behavioural and consumer analysis to identify barriers, drivers, and opportunity points influencing caregiver and youth food choices, purchase decisions, and consumption patterns, using behavioural science frameworks.
• Translate behavioural, consumer, and market insights into audience-segmented demand generation strategies using evidence-based SBC and social marketing approaches.
• Support development of innovative campaigns and activation approaches to increase demand for nutritious first foods and shift social norms around children’s diets, drawing on lessons from private-sector marketing and youth engagement models.
• Contribute to development of messaging frameworks, value propositions, creative briefs, and content guidance for partners, agencies, and implementing organizations.
• Support co-creation processes with youth, caregivers, and communities to inform campaign design and naming/positioning initiatives.
• Assist in integrating demand-side strategies with FFA Pillars 1 and 2 to ensure coherent supply-environment-demand alignment.
• Provide technical inputs to partner coordination platforms, technical working groups, and stakeholder consultations.
• Support monitoring, learning, and adaptive management by tracking behavioural indicators, campaign performance indicators, documenting lessons learned, and recommending course corrections.
• Contribute to knowledge products, presentations, and donor updates related to SBC and demand generation results.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant United Nations Volunteers (UNV ) and external publications and actively participate 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.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action undertaken, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles and 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.
Results/Expected Outputs
• At least one innovative SBC campaign or pilot initiative designed and launched.
• Messaging and positioning guidance developed for partners implementing demand-side interventions.
• Youth co-creation processes conducted and documented.
• Briefs, presentations, and documentation produced to support scale-up and resource mobilization.
• Strengthened integration between demand-side interventions and FFA policy and market-shaping components.
• Capacity development through coaching, mentoring, and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs).
• Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated, and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in, and capacities developed.
• Support the design and implementation of the demand generation component (Pillar 3) of the First Foods Africa initiative, ensuring alignment with national nutrition priorities and UNICEF Food Systems for Children programming.
• Contribute to behavioural and consumer analysis to identify barriers, drivers, and opportunity points influencing caregiver and youth food choices, purchase decisions, and consumption patterns, using behavioural science frameworks.
• Translate behavioural, consumer, and market insights into audience-segmented demand generation strategies using evidence-based SBC and social marketing approaches.
• Support development of innovative campaigns and activation approaches to increase demand for nutritious first foods and shift social norms around children’s diets, drawing on lessons from private-sector marketing and youth engagement models.
• Contribute to development of messaging frameworks, value propositions, creative briefs, and content guidance for partners, agencies, and implementing organizations.
• Support co-creation processes with youth, caregivers, and communities to inform campaign design and naming/positioning initiatives.
• Assist in integrating demand-side strategies with FFA Pillars 1 and 2 to ensure coherent supply-environment-demand alignment.
• Provide technical inputs to partner coordination platforms, technical working groups, and stakeholder consultations.
• Support monitoring, learning, and adaptive management by tracking behavioural indicators, campaign performance indicators, documenting lessons learned, and recommending course corrections.
• Contribute to knowledge products, presentations, and donor updates related to SBC and demand generation results.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant United Nations Volunteers (UNV ) and external publications and actively participate 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.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action undertaken, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles and 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.
Results/Expected Outputs
• At least one innovative SBC campaign or pilot initiative designed and launched.
• Messaging and positioning guidance developed for partners implementing demand-side interventions.
• Youth co-creation processes conducted and documented.
• Briefs, presentations, and documentation produced to support scale-up and resource mobilization.
• Strengthened integration between demand-side interventions and FFA policy and market-shaping components.
• Capacity development through coaching, mentoring, and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs).
• Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated, and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in, and capacities developed.
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